The day the government blinded the boys, their sisters sang them home.
Not one girl led her brother by the hand.
Looking ahead to decades of caretaking, the sisters saw they would have only one chance to teach the newly sightless boys to listen and keep their hands to themselves.
Jim Latham is a writer, hiker, and traveler. More of his writing can be found at jimlatham.substack.com.
Only one chance? I like the language in this, but find it hard to believe they’d only have one chance.
Interesting. I read it generationally – we have one chance to get this right
Hi Shoshauna, Thank you for commenting. You know, maybe you’re right. I thought about it when I was writing the piece and thought the brothers would only be receptive to a re-ordering of privilege and roles in the pain of the moment. Now, a while later, I’m not as sure.
Josie, thanks for commenting. I wrote this story based on a dream that woke me up in the middle of the night, and every attempt to continue past this point, which felt promising for a longer story, hasn’t taken off. Maybe looking at it in a wider, generational perspective might be a way forward. Cheers.