She did not see the flowers, nor the drifts of morning sun. She did not see the crowds, bustling by on her way to work. The world glazed past her, a undiscerned blur surrounding the pavement.
She had to focus, she had to actually try, if she wanted to see something, but she had not the heart to look today. If she centred her gaze, the passing of distorted spheres gave way to clear vision as she became aware of what was before her. She could bring a person, a thing, a destination, into view. It would fill her vision, the background slipping away from her until there was nothing else.
For so long, it had been him. She had let him fill her world as everything else fell to the wayside.
She stared down at the digital yellow arrows of the pavement, the entrancing rise and fall of each foot. She felt the eyes of passersby glance to her face, the eerie sensation of being looked at by unseen ghosts. If she shifted her vision, if she rose to meet the invitation, she would see the person who had drifted their singular gaze towards her.
She had felt it every day, the occasional fleeting blows of eyes seeking hers. She had no peripheral vision, yet something deep inside her became aware of the focus. Mostly it was just curiosity, or a friendly smile from someone stood watching the road as she crossed their line of sight. She couldn't bear to look up, to find out. Not today.
It was months ago now. She had felt the familiar itch of eyes on her face. She didn’t look up right away, expecting the glancing focus to move on as she walked by. It didn’t, her insides had leapt, the sparkle of possibility catching light as she paused to meet his gaze. The crowd slipped by, the cars, the street, faded from view around him as her eyes shifted. In that moment, it was as though they were the only two people, and the world ceased to be.
Electricity had danced over her skin, something had stirred inside her, and she had let it. She was used to the sensation of focus, of one thing replacing another in her field of view, but with him, it was as though there truly was nothing else. Everything slipped away under the intensity of his gaze. She felt freed, alive in a moment they alone shared.
She hadn’t minded how rarely he focused on her when they were together. She had accepted how little he chose to let her be all he saw. He had seen her sometimes, and that, for a while, had been enough.
She could still remember the last time she felt the brush of his striking stare, the air awash with his vibrance. Holding the memory in her mind as she walked, she could almost feel it.
She kept her head down, following the well marked lines on the pavement, letting them drift from her eyes as the world melted into a meaningless mirage.
Her yellow arrow twisted away from her. In the moment it took her distracted mind to process the change, she stepped into the next lane.
The jolt of hard impact jarred into her side.
Staggering, she tore her eyes upward to register the slow moving driverless vehicle. Shifting her focus over the white featureless car body, she saw the passenger door pop out, ready to open.
Another chose your own ending here, make it as happy as you like. I was very tempted by a certain ending I am all too fond of, but they can't all not-live happily every after. I am not sure about this one, I probably could have taken more time to tweak the story but with the deadline looming... Ah well, this one just gets to be what it is. I did come up with an evolutionary/scifi explanation for the selective vision, but I didn't want to crowbar it in there.
This is a very last minute entry to @svashta 's Constrained Writing Contest - he has a knack for coming up with challenging prompts that really push the imagination. This round, chose one sense, make it selective, as in it only works on one thing as a time. I had great fun thinking about how only being able to focus your vision on one thing would change daily things like walking to work, and how it may affect moments between people.
Check out all the entries under #constrainedwriting
Photo Credit by Pixabay User Profile who has a small selection of photos, including babies, pregnancy related images, tulips, and the the date of International Women's Day written on blocks.