Scent of Roses

"And could you live without me?" She asked.He laughed turning his head upwards, twisting his neck, "And why could I not?"They got up from the park bench. She put her hand into his. His hands were like always, warm, rough. She played gently with the fingers; it would be the last memory he had, of her. The evening was warm and the rose bushes were fragrant. They walked along for a long time."Why are your hands so cold?" He asked her. She did not say anything. He started nervously, "the guy you are marrying... Is he... umm... handsome?""Not as handsome as you." She chirped."Oh! Rubbish. When is the wedding?" "Next Monday.""Will you never come here again?" He asked."No.""Not once?""Never."*And he never met her again. Years went by. He came to the same garden, touched the same benches. In fact years went by, till he found out what he looked like. He got an eye donation at the age of thirty. Another fifteen years went by. Now he came to the park to watch families and imagine what life could be if he was born with sight. Then she would still be with him and he would have a family just as beautiful... 

One warm July afternoon, he was sitting in the park, when someone tapped his shoulder. He turned to find a man who looked just like himself but a lot younger. He was hardly twenty-five. The young man held out an old photograph of him, from the time when he was blind.

His heart jumped. It was an old photo of him! He had his neck twisted in a strange angle; blind people do not care how there body appears to others. He must have been twenty and he was standing next to a young woman with curly hair.*"I should have met you years ago, father.""Father... You are... you are my son?""My mother left me a letter. And... umm...it says you are blind but when I was searching for you someone told me you had got an eye transplant. Don't worry, I don't blame you for anything... Mother died right after I was born. Cancer. Already had it for three years."

But did he care? Did he even want to know? Was he even seeing anything? All he saw now was darkness... And in the middle of it, a chirpy voice -"Not as handsome as you."The feel of a soft hand and the sweet scent of roses...