Unable to See, Blamed for Everything

During a vision test at the optical store, I misread one of the letters on the eye chart. Mom slaps me across the face in front of everyone. "You can't even read a letter that big? Are you blind? If you don't want glasses, get out of here!" I clutch my burning cheek and shake my head through tears. "No, Mom. I haven't been able to see the whiteboard for years. Please, just let me get glasses…" Just then, my little sister, Bridget Sink, complains that the sun is too bright. Mom immediately buys her the most expensive pair of sunglasses in the store. I clutch my preion and beg her desperately. "Mom, I don't even need frames. Could you just get me the cheapest lenses? Please?" But Mom snatches the preion from me and tears it to shreds. "Bridget gets good grades. She can have whatever she wants. Meanwhile, you've fallen to the bottom of your class. "Even if you really are nearsighted, it's because you've been sneaking around playing on your phone behind my back! How dare you waste the family's hard-earned money?" She writes "I Waste My Parents' Money" on a sign and hangs it around my neck. Quiet snickers rise from the people around me. Their stares weigh on me until I can barely breathe. "Get on your knees and stay there until the store closes. You're not going home until you've learned your lesson!" Chapter 1 After dark, I made my way home in tears, stumbling along the road. A truck came hurtling toward me. Then, just like that, my body felt weightless. I drifted back home, only to hear Dad ask hesitantly, "Sophie's grades have dropped drastically. Could she really be nearsighted?" Mom snorted. "She's just making excuses for doing badly on her exams. As long as she comes home and admits her mistake to my face, I'll take her to the hospital for a proper examination tomorrow." I floated nearby and smiled bitterly. There was no tomorrow for me anymore, Mom. … When Mom hung the sign around my neck, I froze for a moment. I looked down, but everything was a blur. I couldn't make out a thing. I had been severely nearsighted for years. I assumed it was just a number tag for the glasses fitting, and I thought Mom had finally given in and let me get a pair of glasses. My heart leaped with joy. "Mom, is this my number tag? How long do I have to wear it?" She didn't answer. She simply shoved me to the store entrance. When people passed by, they pointed and whispered about me. A few even covered their mouths and burst out laughing. Belatedly, I realized something was wrong and hurriedly pulled the sign off my neck. I had to hold it almost against the tip of my nose before I could make out the words. "I Waste My Parents' Money." The stares around me felt like needles piercing my skin. I hurriedly grabbed the hem of Mom's clothes. "Mom, I'm not wasting money. I swear I can't see clearly." She shook me off and sneered. "You're still lying. That just proves you haven't learned your lesson! You're not allowed home until the store closes. Get on your knees and stay there!" I begged, tears running down my face. "But there are so many people here. Can't I go home and kneel instead? I promise I'll kneel for as long as you want. I can even do it all night." As if struck by a thought, Mom reached into my pocket and pulled out my transit card. "You think you're going home? How are you going home now?" As she said that, she snapped my transit card in half and threw it at my feet. "This is your punishment. You're not allowed to waste another penny today!" With that, she took my little sister, Bridget Sink, by the hand and walked to the curb, opening the car door for her. The car quickly disappeared into traffic. I picked up the two broken halves of my transit card and slipped them back into my pocket. Left with no choice, I wiped away my tears and slowly knelt. One of the store employees hurried outside and tried to pull me up. "Young lady, your mom's gone. Come on, get up." Frightened, I quickly pulled away from her. "I can't! Mom will check my knees when I get home!" On my ninth birthday, I cut myself a slice of cake and took a bite. Bridget immediately burst into tears. Without hesitation, Mom slapped me across the face. "You can't even let your sister have the first bite without fighting her for it. You're so selfish!" Furious, she threw my birthday cake into the trash. "Forget having a birthday this year. Get out on the balcony and kneel!" She shoved me onto the balcony, then turned around and ordered an even bigger cake for Bridget. That night, I spent hours kneeling on the balcony. The sweet smell of the cake wafted from the trash can beside me. In the end, I couldn't resist. I dug it out and ate it. The following morning, Mom found traces of cake under my fingernails. "How dare you sneak food even while you were being punished? Do you even respect me as your mother?" I never celebrated my birthday again after that. From then on, whenever Mom punished me, she always checked to make sure I had served my time. That was why I refused to get up. Now, with passersby shooting me contemptuous looks, all I could do was lower my head even further. Darkness blanketed the city. The optical store finally closed for the night. I could barely see the road. I couldn't even stop to retrieve the shoe I had lost. All I could do was follow the route home from memory. Suddenly, a huge truck barreled toward me. It struck me and sent me flying into a filthy ditch by the roadside. That was when my body became weightless. Chapter 2 When I drifted back home, I found the couch piled high with shopping bags. Bridget was trying on her new clothes. Dad smiled at her fondly. "You look beautiful." Mom nodded in satisfaction. "Bridget has flawless skin. She looks good in everything." Floating nearby, I suddenly felt a little envious. Bridget had inherited all of our parents' best features. She had fair skin, was tall for her age, and got excellent grades. I, on the other hand, was tan, short, and did only average in school. We had the same parents, yet we looked nothing alike. Mom straightened Bridget's collar, then sighed. "Unlike Sophie, who still looks terrible no matter how expensive her clothes are." Dad simply chuckled. "She's still young. She'll grow into her looks." Mom pursed her lips. "She's not that young. How much more can she still change? Sometimes I really wonder if she's even our biological daughter." A sharp pain stabbed through my chest. Back in fourth grade, my final exam scores dropped me out of the class's top ten. Mom had flung my report card at my face. "How could you get questions like these wrong? How can you be so dumb? I seriously wonder if the hospital switched you with someone else when you were born!" That very afternoon, she dragged Dad and me to get a paternity test. I was terrified when they drew my blood, but deep down, I felt hopeful. I thought that if the test proved I was really their daughter, maybe Mom would finally stop picking on me. The report came out three days later—I was, indeed, their biological daughter. Overjoyed, I threw my arms around them. "Mom, Dad, I really am your daughter!" She stared at the report in a daze, while Dad lowered his head and lit a cigarette. After a long silence, she said with undeniable disappointment, "Just my luck. She really is ours." On the way home, they walked so fast that I struggled to keep up. Neither of them held my hand. That was when I finally understood. To them, the fact that I was their daughter was something to be ashamed of. Hearing Mom say those words again still sent a sharp pang into my chest. I was dead, Mom. You would never have to stand beside me and feel embarrassed again. After that, Mom went into the kitchen to make dinner. Before long, the mouthwatering aroma of garlic shrimp filled the living room. It was my favorite dish, and Bridget's too. But Mom always said that as the older sister, I had to wait until Bridget had eaten her fill before I could touch anything. Nine out of ten times, there was nothing left by then. At the dinner table, Dad glanced at the door. "Should we save some food for Sophie?" Mom snorted. "For what? Let her starve. Maybe then she'll learn her lesson." Despite saying that, she still filled a plate with some of the dishes. Then, after a pause, she picked up a whole shrimp and placed it on the plate. I froze. It was the first time Mom had ever set aside a shrimp for me without being asked. "Forget it. She cried so much today. I almost feel sorry for her," she said. "She's been punished enough. Once she comes home, she can sit with us and eat. I'll take her to the doctor's for an eye exam tomorrow." I crouched beside the table, tears silently dripping onto the floor. I had never once been allowed to eat a whole shrimp. I reached out to pick it up, but my fingers passed right through it. Time ticked by, minute by minute. Even by 11:00 pm, there was still no sign of me. Mom's expression darkened with every second. Dad frowned. "Why hasn't she come home yet? It's so late. What if something happened to her? Maybe I should look for her." My eyes reddened as I turned to Dad. "Dad, you finally remembered me! I'm in the ditch… I'm about to—" Before I could finish, Mom sprang to her feet and picked up the dinner plate. With a sharp flick of her hand, she dumped the food into the trash. "I knew she'd take my kindness for granted! From now on, I won't lift a finger to help her, even if she gets on her knees and begs!" Chapter 3 I rushed toward Mom, practically throwing myself at her hand. "Mom, don't!" But my hands passed right through her. Watching the food fall into the trash, I felt my heart turn to ash. Oh, well. Forget it. It wasn't as if I could eat it anyway. At least I could look at it one last time. I could pretend that, just once, she had really saved me a shrimp. The next second, as though disgusted by the sight of the food, she slammed the lid shut. "This is what happens when you spoil a child! Since she's so independent, she might as well never come back!" Dad shook his head and sighed. "Sophie's getting more and more rebellious." I watched them turn and walk back to their bedroom. It felt as if someone was squeezing my heart until it burst. I didn't refuse to come home, Mom, Dad. I just couldn't. Early the next morning, the first thing Mom did after getting up was storm over to my room and shove the door open. "Where the hell were you last night, young lady? What time did you get home? You're even sleeping in, too?" The door flew open, but my bedroom was empty. She stood frozen in the doorway, the words dying on her lips. Hearing the commotion, Dad came over. "What's the matter?" Mom spun around, seething with anger. "Do you see this? She's gone too far this time! She ran away from home!" He frowned. "What? Should we ask our family and friends to look for her then?" Mom simply grabbed her phone and froze my debit card. "She's so strong and independent, isn't she? Let's see how many days she can last out there! When she comes crawling back, she'd better get on her knees and apologize to me!" I floated beside her and gently shook my head. Even if I did apologize, she wouldn't be able to hear me anymore. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Mom assumed it was me. She pulled the door open with a cold expression, ready to yell, only to realize my homeroom teacher, Ms. Lowe, was standing outside. "Mr. and Mrs. Sink, I'm here for a home visit." My nose stung, and my eyes watered the moment I saw Ms. Lowe. She was the first person to notice that something was wrong with my eyesight. Around that time, I kept copying things down incorrectly in class. More than once, I had embarrassed myself by giving the wrong answer when called on. She called Mom and Dad about it, but all they did was scold me. "Everyone else can copy the notes correctly. Why does she get so much wrong?" "If she spent less time daydreaming and more time studying, maybe she'd actually look at the whiteboard!" One day, after first period, she suddenly called me into her office. She flipped through my notebook and said softly, "Sophie, why don't you sit in the front row from now on?" From that day on, I could finally make out a little more of what was written on the whiteboard. Still, by then, my nearsightedness was already severe, and I couldn't catch up with my classmates academically. Even so, seeing Ms. Lowe now filled me with gratitude. I happily waved at her, but she walked straight through me. Right. I had forgotten. She couldn't see me. Ms. Lowe gave a polite nod. "Is Sophie home?" Mom immediately let out a cold snort. "That brat. First she started lying. Then she ran away from home." Ms. Lowe froze. "She ran away from home? But she doesn't seem like the rebellious kind… Could something have happened to her? Why don't we report her missing to the police?" "No," Mom replied, sneering. "She'll come crawling back on her own once she's starved out there for a couple of days." Dad nodded. "That's right. Ms. Lowe, I'm sure she's just throwing a tantrum." Ms. Lowe looked at Mom and Dad, then fell silent. In the end, she sighed. "Actually, I came here today to speak to you about Sophie." She took out the results from the latest monthly exams. "Sophie's grades have been dropping sharply lately. I've noticed that she's always squinting at the whiteboard during class, and she often borrows notes from her classmates after class. "I've already moved her to the front row, but she's still struggling. I suspect she may have a serious vision problem. Have either of you taken her to get her eyes checked?" Mom was deeply unamused. She shot to her feet. "A vision problem? Her dad and I both have 20/20 vision, and her sister's is 20/10! No one else in our family is nearsighted. Why is she the only one with so many issues?" Chapter 4 Ms. Lowe tried to say something, but Mom cut her off. "Ms. Lowe, we know you mean well, but as her parents, we know how to handle our child." Dad stood up as well. "We're already dealing with Sophie's behavior. So, we won't take up any more of your time today." Ms. Lowe clearly wasn't done, but Mom had already opened the door for her. After a pause, she could only sigh and leave. As soon as the door closed, Mom scoffed. "All Sophie ever does is cause us trouble. Forget it. I'll head to the grocery store." Just as she reached into her wallet, she froze. "Where's my money? I clearly put the 100-dollar bill I had left after buying Bridget's clothes yesterday in the inner pocket of my wallet!" I hovered nearby, shaking my head. "No, Mom. You stuffed the money into that white shopping bag without thinking yesterday. The bag tipped over later, and the money slid underneath the couch." By the time Mom snapped her head up, her face already contorted with rage. "It was Sophie! She definitely stole it!" I froze in disbelief. She gritted her teeth. "Bridget gets enough pocket money every month. She has no reason to steal. Sophie's the only one in this house who has no money!" Pain tore through my chest, and tears ran down my face. I rushed to Mom's side and shook my head desperately. "It wasn't me! The money's right under the couch! If you just bend down and look, you'll see it!" Of course, she couldn't hear me. She was trembling with rage, her voice burning with anger. "Come on, honey! We're bringing that brat home today! It's time she learned a proper lesson!" First, they went to the optical store. The employee shook her head and told them I had left on my own after the store closed. So, they began searching the surrounding area. They hadn't gone far when they spotted police tape stretched across the road ahead. Red and blue lights flashed harshly. Snatches of conversation drifted over from the crowd. "What a tragedy. A young girl was hit by a truck and thrown into a ditch… She didn't have a phone or any ID on her. No one's come to identify her yet." Dad frowned when he heard that. "Kids these days are such a handful. They never make things easy for their parents. She probably ran off just because she felt a little wronged. Imagine how heartbroken her parents must be when they find out." Mom shook her head and snorted. "Exactly. Once we find Sophie, I'll bring her here to see this. Then she'll understand the consequences of not listening to us!" I smiled bitterly beside them. "Yeah. I understand it now. I'm sorry, Mom and Dad. I should've listened to you. I brought this on myself and disappointed you again." They sighed and walked around the crowd, continuing their search. A few hundred yards later, Mom suddenly stopped. She was staring at a sneaker lying in the grass, caked in mud and dirty water. She bent down to pick it up, and her expression darkened instantly. "This is Sophie's shoe." Dad looked around, frowning. "How did her shoe end up here?" Mom seemed to have found her own answer. She gritted her teeth. "She's destroying her own belongings just to get back at us! I shouldn't have gone soft on her yesterday and thought of taking her to get her eyes checked!" His expression darkened, too. "How did she turn out like this?" I floated in front of Mom, sobbing so hard that my whole body trembled. "Mom, I didn't throw it away… It fell off, but I couldn't see clearly enough to find it. I didn't do it on purpose…" Just then, a police officer searching nearby overheard them and hurried over. "Did you just say Sophie Sink?" He took out a clear evidence pouch. Inside was a broken transit card, snapped in half. My name was printed on it. His expression turned grave. "The deceased's name was Sophie Sink. May I ask what your relationship to her was?"