The morning sun warmed Violet’s face and gently pulled her from her dreams. She’d slept like a log in her new bed.

She’d stretched and sat up before she realised something was wrong. She could faintly see the edges of her room but everything straight in front of her was covered by a big black blob, like ink had leaked all over her eyes. She rubbed them but nothing changed, she still couldn’t see. Her heart beat a little faster. She stuck her foot out of the duvet and stretched for the floor

“Ouch,” she yelled, smacking her toe off something solid as she walked blindly towards the door.

“Mam, Dad!” she cried.

“Violet, Violet, what is it?” croaked her Dad’s sleepy voice.

Suddenly a crash shook the house.

“Eugene!” her mother cried, “Eugene what’s happened, are you okay?”

Violet gingerly felt her way out the door and down the hall to her parent’s room.

“Mam, Dad, I can’t see!” she stumbled inside.

“Neither can I pet,” her father replied, his voice cheerful, “It’s nothing to panic about, we were warned.”

“But not this soon Eugene!” her mother shouted.

“No need to panic girls,” he repeated, his voice now a little high pitched.

“Violet come over and get into bed with your mother. I’ll go downstairs and see if I can get a hold of the Archers. They’ll know what to do.”

“But how Eugene, you can’t see either?” her mother sobbed.

“Don’t worry about me,” he replied, tripping over Violet who was now crawling across the carpet.

“Oh what a good idea pet!” he said, easing gently onto his knees, “Now I’ll be back soon with help, trust me.”

Violet heard her father crawl baby like across the room and out into the hall. She didn’t want to trust him. He didn’t deserve her trust. This was all his fault.

“Ow,” she cried, banging into the side of her parent’s bed.

“You okay pet?” her mother called from above.

Violet rubbed her forehead searching for blood but felt nothing watery.

“Ya I think so,” she said, crawling in beside her Mam.

The mattress on her side was still warm and smelt like her dad, it made her angry.

“Good morning!” a voice called from outside her parent’s window, “it’s a glorious day family Brown.”

“Mam, there’s someone outside.”

“I know pet, stay here,” her mother whispered, then disappeared from her spot.

Violet heard her stumble across the room, then the window squeaked and cold air tickled her toes. She pulled them up and wrapped the duvet tighter to block all air holes.

“Hello?” her mother called.

“Oh good morning Mrs. Brown, I just stopped by to see how your first day is going and to offer Eugene a lift to work.”

“Oh Mr. Archer,” her mother gasped, “what a god send you are. I’m afraid we have all woken up a little worse for wear. The effects of the sun have come on sooner than expected.”

“Oh no,” Mr. Archer replied, “that’s a pity. You won’t get to see our beautiful town through your naked eyes. Oh well, sometimes it happens that way. Not to worry stay put and I will take it from here. We’ll have you back to normal in no time.”

In a few minutes Mr. Edward Archer, Violet knew it was him because he was the same height as her, had led them from the room into the back of his car.

“Now onto our spectacle makers emporium,” he called, as the engine whistled into life.

Violet always thought a spectacle was when she was doing something wrong, her mother regularly told her ‘to stop making a spectacle of herself’, now she knew it meant glasses. Emporium was more difficult but she had a feeling it was a posh word for shop. The Archers seemed to like posh words.

As Mr. Edward Archer led her by the arm slowly down the stone path towards his shop, Violet decided she never wanted to be blind again. She liked her sight, already she really missed colour, everything in her new world was black and fuzzy. She wished for some orange or purple or even some grey though that wasn’t really a colour.

“Mind the steps now Violet,” Mr. Edward Archer said.

Suddenly the black got blacker and she stumbled backwards.

“Oh don’t worry Violet dear, we’re just coming inside, the light will change a little,” Edward Archer laughed.

Violet smiled to be polite but inside she was fuming, she was blind and he was laughing. She’d half decided already but his laugh made it a fact, she hated Edward Archer.

“Now I’m just going to lower you into this chair,” he said, grabbing her hands.

Violet did as she was told and winced as the cold leather touched her bare legs, she was still wearing her short pyjamas, the furry love hearted pair. She blushed as she pictured the pink and red pattern. She’d told her mam she was getting too old for love hearts but parents never listened.

“I’m just going to get your mother and father dear,” Edward Archer called, his footsteps fading into the distance.

Silence filled the shop.

A lot of the time Violet liked silence, but not this time. Blindness turned silence scary. She pushed her hands in under her thighs, swung her legs and tried to remember a happy song.

Something rustled nearby. She turned quickly. Suddenly someone blew in her ear and laughed. It was the same laugh, the one she had heard the night before.

She gasped, “Who’s there?”

“Hey you!” a voice shouted.

Her chair was knocked sideways and she hit her head. Footsteps raced through the shop and glass smashed behind her.

“Who’s there?” she cried, grabbing the chair arms.

“Violet dear, what are you doing here?”

It was a voice she recognised.

“There was somebody here, there was a fight.”

“Really?” Mr. George Archer replied sounding worried, “Did you see them dear? What did they look like?”

“No,” Violet said quickly, “I’m blind but I heard them. One of them blew in my ear!”

“Ah,” George Archer laughed, “Losing ones sight can play havoc with ones hearing.”

“No there really was someone here, I swear,” Violet protested.

“No there wasn’t Violet,” George Archer snapped.

She was about to argue when she heard her parents shuffle into the room.

“Mam, Dad is that you?” she said leaning out of her chair.

Someone grabbed her shoulders and pulled her back.

“Lots of glass to be broken here Violet,” George Archer snarled.

“Violet don’t worry we’re here pet,” her Dad soothed, he sounded nearby.

She wanted to reply but couldn’t, she was still angry with him.

“Now you’re first Violet,” Edward Archer said, “I do hope these fit. If not we can adjust them, you have a rather large head for someone so young.”

Violet winced as glasses were shoved onto the bridge of her nose. Then hands cupped either side of her face and adjusted the frames.

“Now,” Edward Archer said, “Open your eyes dear and tell us what you see.”

Violet held her breath afraid she might still be blind and slowly opened her eyes. She gasped as colour filled her vision. Rich browns from the dark wood that panelled the shop walls, deep red from the luxurious carpet at her feet and bright gold from the spectacles resting inside sparkling glass cabinets. It was the poshest place she’d ever seen.

“Is there something wrong?” Edward Archer asked.

“No,” Violet stammered, “it’s just I’ve never been in a place like this before, it’s amazing!”

Pride passed between the brothers.

“We try our best,” Edward replied.

As the Archers moved onto her parents, Violet took her chance to explore.

Everything in the shop was shiny, even the gold handles on the cabinet doors shone. The room she was in was at least her Dad and a half high and glass cabinets filled the shop from floor to ceiling. A huge wooden ladder on wheels rested against one of the walls and George Archer was just stepping off it with a pair of specs in hand.

“For your mother,” he smiled pushing past.

Violet moved away from her parents, slipping in round the back of the chair she’d been sitting on. A thin thread of light leaked through a gap in the wood panel in front of her. Gently she pushed on the wall and it gave way revealing an entrance into a room behind.

This room was stacked floor to ceiling with books. The books were old, their worn covers battered and bruised. They were the type of dusty books her mother hated but her father loved. She pulled one out, An Optical Illusion, then another Blind Mans Bluff and another Seeing Things. She scanned the shelves and noticed all the books were the same, they were all about eyes. She was going to pick up another when she heard a voice.

“Don’t even think about it.”

She turned quickly and looked straight into the face of Mr. George Archer who was on his knees.

“Perfect kids must act perfectly!” he scowled.

Violet froze.

“There you are George,” Edward Archer said, peeping through the door, “I see you found Violet. We were worried dear.”

Saved by the interruption, Violet raced past Edward Archer to the safety of her parents.

There was something different about the Archers as Violet studied them from behind her mother’s chair. Edward the smaller of the two somehow wasn’t so small and his head not so large. His eyes weren’t bulging and his teeth were somehow straighter. George too had changed, he didn’t look so tall, his eyes fitted his face and his arms and legs weren’t so spindly. He even stood tall without bending his head which was very strange. The changes were small but added together they meant the Archers weren’t as ugly as Violet remembered. You might even say they looked nice. It didn’t mean she was starting to like them; there was still something strange about the pair, she just couldn’t put her finger on it.

She looked at her parents who now both wore glasses. Her mother was lovely even with the frames but she had always been beautiful and Violet hoped someday she’d be compared to her mother. Her father too looked handsome, he even had more hair. They were the perfect couple and Violet couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it before.

“Violet,” her mother said, “those glasses really suit you. You look beautiful!”

She returned her mother’s smile, Perfect was sending them all a little mushy. She was even thinking about giving the place a chance, fighting it just felt like hard work. For today, just for today, she’d give in to Perfect.