I had my extendible stick in my right hand and Ria’s leash in the other. Tapping the road ahead, I kept searching for bumps as I let her lead the way at a moderate pace. The morning wind was cool as it blew against my face. Not that I could feel much of it through my anti-pollution mask and my sunglasses.

*tap**tap**tap*

*clatter*clatter*clatter*

The sound of my stick tapping against the pavement and Ria’s claws striking the ground were the only discernible sounds this early in the morning. It was five o’ clock… it was probably still dark out. Not that it mattered to me.

For me, it was perpetually dark.

*bark**bark**arf*

*bashinnn*

*mrreow*

Suddenly, Ria jerked at the leash and started barking at something… from that last call, probably a stray cat. It probably knocked over a trashcan in its hurry to flee. This was why I still had her. Her training wasn’t complete yet. She got easily distracted by random stuff while on the road. I had tested this with her before by blindfolding myself and letting her guide me.

I was supposed to work on it this week.

Haha.

Didn’t think the situation would turn into this.

I tugged at the leash sharply and she came to heel. At least she knew enough to not give chase. I walked over to her and gave her a light rap on the top of her head and projected my disappointment at her through my empathy.

*whine*

I’m sure she was giving me the puppy eyes.

Sorry Ria, that won’t work anymore.

We resumed our walk and slowly made our way towards the local greenery belt. It was less of a park and more of a hedged garden with paths to walk through. They didn’t have enough space. Overcrowding, poor town planning and all that jazz.

It was deserted at this hour. There was an hour yet till the laughing club patronized it.

I never saw the merit behind gathering together and laughing artificially. I even looked it up once out of curiosity. The net threw all sorts of unsubstantiated psychobabble about how laughter made us happier as our brain associated the two things. There was something about increased oxygen content of the blood too.

I call bullshit. You laugh when you are happy… doing it the other way around only leaves you more depressed. Trust me… I’ve had enough first-hand experience over the last week.

And I remember laughing so hard that I grew breathless… basic biology tells me you need to breathe to get oxygen.

Laughing with my friends…

I grit my teeth as I remember those assholes… I’m suffering the consequences of their bullying.

I made sure to clarify their part in the matter to the officer who came to take my statement. I hope they rot in a cell somewhere… but they’ll probably get off with suspension.

The girl on the other hand… what was her name again? Lily? Lorna? Yes, Lorna… she’ll get properly screwed seeing that we are all over eighteen. I don’t hate her as much as my friends somehow… maybe because she’s a victim too and I could sense the depth of her hatred as she came at me…

If I was in as much mental pain… I’d act crazy too. I shake my head to clear off these depressing thoughts.

Where was I? Yeah… laughing club.

These people would be better off doing yoga.Breathe in. Breathe out. Inhale confidence. Exhale doubt. Catchy jingle that… I picked it up off some Swami or the other as I was surfing channels.

As my mind was wandering I reached the gate of the green belt. Fumbling around for a bit I manage to get it unlatched and walk in. Winter’s coming and the roses are in full bloom. Their scent fills my lungs as I walk through rows of them.

I wish I could see them again.

I try to remember them… the tightly coiled petals, the glistening dew on the leaves, the vivid colours… In my mind, they seem to be muted somehow… The colours fading as the boundless darkness presses in from all sides.

My breath starts becoming rapid again as I futilely try to grab onto the memories.

Like water, they flow out of the seams of my mental fists.

*hah* *haah* *haah*

I have to calm down… I’m having another panic attack. I thought I was past this phase after last night. It seems I overestimated myself.

I sink down to my knees, burying my head between my knees. I can smell the rich loamy smell of the earth. I try to order my breathing.

*whine*

Ria comes over sensing my distress, rubbing her snout comfortingly into my neck. My breathing slows. Calm, I am calm… in control… its all right.

*sigh*

I stand up shakily, dusting off my knees.

That was fun.

Think positive me. You have one extra sense that no one has… now you lost one so you are back to the normal five.

It’s still no problem.

Being blind has advantages… like, like you get your admission quota for universities under the physically handicapped bracket. I can apply to the colleges I had no chance in before. Yeah… with my empathy… I can work my way up the social ladder and make connections with the future leaders of our nation.

I can start up a charity for the blind or something and have them support it. I can still be successful. Maybe I’ll combine my expertise in training dogs and make it my selling point.

Blind guy training dogs for others like him.

Yeah… seems like a trending metube video.

It’s like a gay friend of mine told me… guys give the best blowjobs because they know what they want if they were the ones on the receiving end.

Mmm Hmm... Yup… this could work. I am feeling better now and give Ria a rubdown and a kiss.

She barks excitedly.

My fingers come across a few knots in her fur and it seems a little less silky than usual. She needs a bath. Looks like I’ll have to coax her into getting one when we get back home.

She positively hates baths.

As I am scheming about how to trick her, she suddenly grows very quiet and from her mind I feel a great deal of tension.

Something has her spooked.

I too grow still as I try to pick up on whatever she’s feeling.

.

.

.

.

.

It’s silent.

Too silent… all the wildlife in the area has grown still.

The birds who had started to wake up and begin chirping have clammed up.

It’s like the entire world is waiting with bated breath.

*rrrrrrrrmmmmmmmbbbbbbllllleeeeee*

.

An earthquake?

Very slight tremors run through the ground beneath my feet. If I wasn’t kneeling and looking out for it, I wouldn’t have caught on. I strain my ears to listen for aftershocks but that’s it. The birds start calling again and the unnatural stillness is in the past.

Ria, however, hasn’t come back to normal. I can feel excitement radiating off her… she’s practically vibrating as her training to stay near me wars with her desire to run off and investigate whatever it is that has her riled up.

*whine*

I can feel her hope for me to say yes and I have no reason to deny her.

I’m curious too.

*yelp*

With a joyous yelp, she starts bounding through the hedges as I try my best to keep up, tripping and stumbling through them behind her. She stops so suddenly that I nearly step on her. I can feel her excitement peak as she starts panting as she sits in a particular spot. Confused, I keep my mind on her emotions as I try to figure out what the hell is going on.

It’s just a random empty spot in the hedges.

Wait?!

Empty spot in the hedges?

There should be no empty spot here… the hedges are continuous… has the gardener been getting snip happy with his shears?

I squat and place my palm on the ground, laying aside the walking stick. It’s smooth… its like it has been polished until the rough edges have been ground away.

Or as if two surfaces have been rubbed against each other, smoothening both out.

A tingle runs up my spine as I realise that the characteristics of this spot is exactly the same as what Dr. Mulligan described in yesterdays programme for small scale spatial expansions.

My breath grows loud… the spatial expansion mainly occurs at the borders of tectonic plates but in rare cases, it can happen far inland. Thus, the plate borders have been occupied by the armies and research teams of various countries as they try to make sense of the world expansion and also to prevent the mutation of beasts and take the chance to mutate themselves. Many ambitious people are taking a trip towards their nearest plate borders in order to cash in on this latest fad. Owners of real estate in strategic positions have become millionaires overnight.

I was planning on making a trip myself. I couldn’t help but cling to the hope that my mutation might repair my eyes. Now, it was right here in front of me… the thing I was hoping for.

My hands grew clammy as I began to sweat.

I couldn’t help it… I had no idea of how to absorb the energy Dr. Mulligan talked about… I was deathly scared of doing something wrong and losing my chance to regain my sight.

Maybe breathing it in mutated the lungs… was I supposed to expose my eyes to it? What if I could only mutate one thing and because I was too impatient, I ended up mutating something else. Should I move away… or was it already too late? Was it a particle or was the energy a radiation? Or like light could it behave like both?

I could feel another panic attack coming.

I forcefully depressed the bubbling unease and decided to roll with whatever hand life dealt me. I ripped off my mask and sunglasses. Focusing on Ria’s mental state, I started copying her breathing.

I tried to move my eyes… the few undamaged muscles pulling on my empty eye sockets (the doctors had to scoop out the corroded goop) causing jolts of pain to shoot up to my brain. I clenched my teeth… maybe the destruction would trigger the mutation.

Lines of blood started dripping down my cheeks. Powering through the pain, I focused on my empathy and tried to link my mind with Ria’s… it was another way I hoped I could get my vision back… by jacking into her or any other living being’s senses.

The empathy was already something special… so I felt that it was logical that my mutation would strengthen it…

Even if this world expansion hadn’t occurred, I was planning to train it so I could do that anyway… after all, my powers had strengthened after years of using it to train dogs… though I wasn’t sure whether it was due to my training or a natural consequence of growing up.

Whatever… I wasn’t letting a single possibility through.

I picked up a handful of soil and started licking it trying my best to stop myself from choking on the strange earthy taste… snakes used their tongue to sense their prey… so could I.

I tried my hardest to split my attention enough to focus on the smallest of sounds… echolocation was another way I could go.

I breathed deeply through my nose, trying to take in every scent within my perception.

Suddenly, a sharp spike of pain blasted through my brain. The world seemed to spin and I felt nauseous.

As the ground came up to meet my face and I lost consciousness, I couldn’t help but pray to any deity that might be bored enough to listen.

Give me my light back… it’s all I want.