Lucifer slowly opened his eyes. Waking up this morning was not like his usual rude jolt full of excitement and restlessness. He yawned lazily and sat upright.

Even if it was just a month ago, it would have been different. Although he was not allowed to set foot outside the threshold, neither to meet his friends, to study nor to play, somewhere in his heart he was pleased with his current situation. The taunting, rejection, disappointment, the sarcastic grins and the low whispers exchanged with each other behind his back, couldn't find him here. Without realising, a low chuckle left his mouth. He quickly wiped it off as if embarrassed with his weird train of thoughts.

He scratched his head sheepishly as he got down from his bed. He took his white cane ( A cane used by blind people to scan their surroundings or orientation marks) placed on his bedside and started to walk. Stumbling his way out of his room he stood in front of the window and removed the curtains. He squinted a little, even if he was blind, the direct rays of sunlight still made it hard to keep his eyes open.

A thought crossed his mind. He could feel the warmth of the sunlight through the window on his face, hear the dawn chorus of the melodic birdsong, he could smell the wet mud after the rain, and could even taste the delicious bun his mom baked for him, nonetheless, he could not appreciate the beauty of all those things neither could see mana. Lucifer felt like nothing but just a worthless canopy *(noun for blind).

He often thought to himself if he had his vision, would he have been able to see mana? Would his parents be happy? Would he be happy?

A teardrop trickled down his face which he hurriedly wiped off with the back of his hand. While Lucifer was deep in his thoughts, he heard a knock on the door.

Knock! Knock!

“Judith! Are you at home? I’m Carol. Hey! open the door.”

Knock! Knock!

“Judith? Hello?” exclaimed Carol a fat lady, well known as ‘The snoopy lady’ of the village. She had a bulky body without a neck and was quite small in stature. She wore a faded pink woollen dress complimenting her pale white skin and an apron on top of it with stains of chocolate. She also had a basket on her left hand which was full of cookies and was covered by a thin cloth. Speaking about her personality, she was a person who loved to meddle and gossip as if it was her only objective ever since her birth.

‘Oh no! Mom said she would arrive in an hour, but she is not back yet. What do I do? She strictly told me not to meet any of our villagers or anybody else. Moreover, it's aunt Carol, mom told me to be extra wary of her’. Lucifer thought to himself. After pondering for a while, he decided just to stay quiet until his mother returned.

“There is no lock outside the door. Lucifer are you at home? Why aren’t you playing with your friends since last month? Are you sick? Hey! Lucifer?” yelled Carol while practically pounding on the door.

"kyaaaaaa" screamed Carol her wits out. Judith appeared out of nowhere behind her back, which took her by surprise.

“ Huff! Oh my! Miss Carol, Huff! are you trying to destroy my door by striking it so hard?” Judith asked her while panting.

“Oh, dear lord! You surprised me Judith and no! I am just knocking on the door!” Carol stomped with her foot as if she did nothing wrong.

“Yeah, I’m sure you are. By the way, what brings you here Carol? You never once visited our home…what reason brought you here?” asked Judith with a suspicious look.

“My my Judith! aren’t you being rude? I brought cookies which I made myself! Are we just going to talk outside? Lets’ sit and talk” Carol ignored Judith and reached for the doorknob.

“Wait! N-no you can’t! I mean my house is a little messy so maybe next time? “Judith rambled while pushing Carol aside.

“No, it’s oka-“

“Yes, yes I just remembered I forgot to switch off my stove! Sorry Carol, Bye!” Judith cut her off and hastily opened the door and slammed it on her face.

‘Look at this! There is something fishy. I am sure she is trying to hide something; they are acting strange since last month. What are you hiding Judith? What caused you to panic? I will certainly find out….Kekekeke’ Carol thought to herself while laughing like a maniac with a creepy wicked smile plastered on her face.

************

“Haaa…”

‘Another minute and our whole house would have been in wrecks’ Lucifer sighed heavily as he thought to himself.

Click! Shut!

The door opened and slammed shut as he heard his mom muttering to herself.

“Phew, I arrived just in time or else she could have seen Lucifer.”

Every so often Lucifer thought to himself what would have happened if aunt Carol or someone else had seen him? Why does he have to live in hiding? Why couldn’t he go outside? Meet his friends, teachers and everyone else? Why he couldn’t even meet anyone at home? What’s wrong? what changed? Why him? Why?

But every time he questioned; he was met with silence. They never answered and he stopped questioning.

Lucifer’s life was not always like this. Yes, it was indeed tough, tough because he had no sight but he was happy, they were happy. He still remembered those memories when his mom used to teach him letters and read him a lot of books on magic, his father used to carry him on his shoulders every day after work. Marcus used to buy him sweet buns and feed him with his own hands. But now…he didn’t even recall when his father last caressed him with his hands. It looked like he hated him now, why? What had he done wrong?

He had two great friends with whom he used to play. They chatted together, studied together even sometimes ate and slept together they used to have a lot of fun. Without them, he couldn’t even imagine a single day. Leo and Canary, the only ones who never belittled him, cared for him and loved him…..or so he thought.

‘Don’t they miss me? They never once came to visit me or did they forget about me?’

“Is this because I’m blind? Why can’t I see? why?” Lucifer screamed while sobbing with tear-soaked eyes.

Lucifer startled. Someone was patting his head.

Pat, Pat.

He looked somewhere aimlessly with unfocused eyes. A warm hand was placed on his head and was patting him gently.

Judith wiped his tears off with her thumb and held his face with both of her hands. She kissed his forehead and took a deep breath and started speaking to Lucifer.

“Luc my child, listen carefully to what I am going to say, engrave my words in your heart and never forget---

'"Don’t make your lack of sight be your weakness make it your strength,

After every storm, the sun will shine again because it can’t rain forever,

Stand sturdy in face of hardship, happiness will find its way;

Be strong and never give up.”

Those four lines were etched in his heart, something that he would remember until-Death.