Chapter 1

Christopher Thomas was startled by the loud noise at his bedside. Of course, it was his alarm that he keeps forgetting he sets for sometime around six O'clock.

"Just another week to crap down the shithole", he thought as he slowly reached a finger over to first smash the snooze button, to mute the horrible buzz in his head. He was drinking the night before with friends, and he could feel it as he sat up. It felt like sleeping had done absolutely nothing; he was still tired as hell. Low energy aside, he began to get dressed slowly in the outfit he randomly picked last night while half asleep. It was nothing special, really.

Downstairs, Christopher made himself a Cream Cheese bagel. It was quick, and he had to be ready within the hour. Melanie Thomas, Christopher's mom and general caretaker for the household, still hadn't got home from work yet.

"Probably caught in traffic again, Chris thought. "Working in the daytime has its advantages."

Back upstairs, Chris brushed his teeth, washed his face and shaved. This done, he had time to kill. For the next thirty or so minutes, he checked tweets, checked emails and his Facebook, of which there was nothing interesting. He chilled outside while he waited for his transportation to arrive.

Christopher sat in the front row, first seat closest to the exit. As it turns out there was another person occupying this spot. That was fine with him; he rarely talked to anyone. He had what looked like a small portable computer. He was typing on it.

"Hey," Chris said. "No one sits in this spot usually. You new to this school?"

The kid looked in Christopher's general direction. Christopher noticed he didn't make direct eye contact.

"Hi," he said. "Name is Mike. Yours?"

"Oh. Sorry, it's Chris. Christopher, to be exact."

"Thanks. Yes, I am new to this school," he said. "This is my second week here, although it still feels like the first for me."

"Ah, you should be good next week. For most students it takes them two weeks to adapt, even though the school administration thinks it'll take them one because of the "elaborate" program they thought they created."

"I hope so. It's been a non-stop battle with teachers and students. Students think I'm worthless, teachers insisting I not walk around and do things independently. One student thought blindness was contagious. It does get tiring after a while. It's not just the bullying, though."

"Well, I'll do anything I can to help", Chris said. "Personally, I don't know how anyone could live blind."

"Thanks. Trust me, I don't think I could live sighted either."

"Watch out, dude! It's a one way la..."

Any screams heard by the driver were ignored as he tried to concentrate in what was a very panicking situation. One minute he was seeing a white flash, the next his vision appeared to be totally gone. Suddenly, all concentration was gone as the bus was rear-ended by another bus at full speed. Drivers were screaming over the CB radio as whatever this flash was took effect. Headlights served their uses, and they were missed right about now. But everything ended painfully as the driver of bus twenty, which was the bus on which Mike and Christopher were happily engaged in a conversation, flipped on its side and was hanging over a ditch...

The driver's neck twisted at an odd angle and he eventually lost consciousness.

Christopher I felt like I was lying in a bed. The only thing I could register having any feeling was my feet. Everything was starting to come into focus, starting with sound.

I heard voices, most of which sounded like they were in panic. I didn't know where I was, although bets are that I'm in a hospital bed in intensive care. When our bus flipped, I had pain the likes of which I've never dealt with in my entire life. I thought I had died right on the spot. Scratch that; I thought my spirit in me departed briefly before coming back.