"Mmmm, I don't know." I have to ask Lisa when she gets up.
While in Mr. and Mrs. Loud's room, Rita places a wet cloth on Lisa's forehead while Mr. Loud bandages her wounds.
"I hope you get well soon," said Rita, taking her daughter in her arms.
Meanwhile, Lincoln was in the basement, and there he had very fond memories of his childhood, like when he used to collect model ships or play video games with his friends. That was before it turned into a gym when his parents became obsessed with health. Currently running Lynn to keep her performance going before every workout was also a good way to keep Lynn out of trouble when they had to cut costs, as the athlete can use all her energy on cardio equipment and weights, plus she can do all the sports she wants there without breaking anything.
Lincoln was sitting in a chair when the creak of the punching bag made him turn to see where the thing was. Lincoln began to stroke him quickly and accurately, recalling the three years he had lived in Canada and everything new he had discovered about himself when he went blind.
-This part of the chapter recounts the three years Lincoln lived in Canada and how he got his muscles as well as his other talents.-
-twenty-four hours ago-
It was 7:00 a.m. Lincoln was packing his suitcase for the day when he was going home for the super winter vacations, and Lincoln was glad he was going to stay for three months at home, the place where he had grown up.
His grandfather, Albert, enters the room.
"Excited to go home, boy?"
"Yes, Grandpa, I want to know how things have changed in these three years away from home."
"Okay, Lincoln, I will let you pack up in peace."
Albert left the room, leaving Lincoln alone and the boy narrating to himself, a habit he still enjoyed.
-Lincoln's point of view-
Time is a curious thing; years can pass in a second, and a few hours can be endless days.
When I got here, I was scared. I haven't lost my sight for long, but the first few months were the worst. Every time I woke up, I didn't know if it was day or night. At dawn, when I wanted to go to the bathroom, I had to call Pop Pop to take me. Learning to read Braille was quite a challenge, but fortunately, when I started at the School for Special Young Kids, everything got better; the teachers were nice, and the kids were nicer too. I even made friends with some twins, Liberty and her sister, who was strangely called Linka; they reminded me so much of Lola and Lana.
Linka was very feminine and had good manners as well as being somewhat shy, and Liberty, for her part, was a sassy girl with a very assertive and bold personality. She did not hesitate to stand up for me against some bullies who had been bothering me because of my disability; they were very nice to me the whole time.
Then one day, while Pop Pop was buying firewood for the fireplace, we met Jean-Paul, a French-Canadian of the loggers, a big man with big muscles but a good heart and a humble and jovial attitude with a great sense of humor, the typical gentle giant. Pop Pop immediately became friends with him, as did I.
One day, when Linka and Liberty had to move in and I was left alone, the abuse began. Jean-Paul recommended an option to my grandfather, who accepted it. I met another person who helped me move forward, a twenty-seven-year-old judo teacher named Alexa Morrison.
She lost vision in one of her eyes in a car accident when she was my age; that's why we got along so well. I never imagined that, being blind, I could learn self-defense. Alexa taught me everything she knew, from basic asanas to exercises. Even if I couldn't see Alexa, she was such a good teacher. She accommodated my body according to the fighting stance she required. She was the best teacher I could have had.
Finally, the last person I met who gave me the light to face my disability was Edenshaw, a shaman of a tribe who inhabited the area a hundred years ago; no one knows how old he is at all. I have come to him hoping to cure my blindness since someone told Grandpa about him; he used to live in the same forest near our cabin. My grandfather was disappointed to learn that he could not cure me. For my part, I had already lost hope, but Edenshaw told me that he saw something special in me, something he had only seen in a real member of his tribe, and the funny thing was that he was also blind, but he taught me to use my senses to guide me. After some time, thanks to Edenshaw, I discovered that I could see through sounds like a sonar wave. In addition to gaining great strength and balance with Alexa training, within a year, the whole forest became my playground, and I was no longer afraid.
Since then, Jean-Paul, Alexa, and Edenshaw have been my supporters. Being away from the noise of the city and without my own video games or comics to keep me entertained, I could only study and visit the three most important people in my new life, and when they weren't available, I remembered all my sisters had done. I became the best in my class; it was very easy for me to finish my homework, and that left me a lot of free time. My grandfather bought me an acoustic bass, which I became really good at playing with. I played for hours and hours when I wasn't spending time with my grandfather, practicing with Alexa, or visiting Edenshaw or Jean-Paul. In spite of everything, these years were the best of my life, and now I will go home on this day.