First Light

First Light By Hanyi Zhou (6A) Layout by Natalie So

One day le …

Another tear escaped the corner of my eye as I glared at the medical form, wishing it could disappear. I listened to the grave voices coming from the lobby. As words oated by, I caught the occasional phrase. Such a short life. What can we do? How devastating. I buried a pillow on top of my head. Even though I couldn’t hear the voices anymore, they still echoed through my head. I looked out the window at the dock, memories ashing in my mind. Memories of watching sunsets, sunrises, telling stories, shing, memories that I would never forget.

I remember sitting on the dock, watching the sunset. I swing my feet, feeling the familiar, cold sensation of water splashing onto my toes. I close my eyes, feeling the warm breeze on my face. I recall a memory, sweet and stored away in my mind.

e shing line sprang about, the silver scales of a plump sh writhing above the water.

Honey, Dad said, isn’t this the nest day ever?

Mm-hm, I replied, through a mouthful of marshmallows, couldn’t this day last forever?

And my dad replied with a small smile on his face, Honey, look, we’re just in time for sunrise!

Together, shoulder against shoulder, we leaned against each other and watched the sun rise. When we had a bucket full of sh, dad said to me, You know, there are people out there who can’t ever have this kind of day.

I was mysti ed. How? I asked.

Some people out there can’t even see, he said. ey’ll never be able to see, let alone enjoy a sunrise. Dad explained to me that a er a person dies, doctors can remove the cornea and use it to help blind people see.

Daddy, I said determinedly, I’m going to give blind people my cornea a er I die!

My dad smiled. Good for you.

I opened my eyes. I knew what I had to do. It was the last day. e last day of my whole life.

I looked around, at the white curtains, at the white beds, at the white blankets. Tubes ran in and out of my nostrils, blankets covering everywhere but my face. Pain coursed through my body. It became harder and harder for me to breathe. I looked out the window. I could see the dock, where I went almost everyday of my life. I thought of my sixth birthday, when I had rescued a sea turtle. I thought of the July fourth barbeques by the dock, eating crisp sh and roasting marshmallows. I closed my eyes, savoring all those fond memories. I glanced at the horizon. A small curve appeared where the sea met the sky. e water sparkled, seagulls squawked and apped their wings, shermen rode their boats to the harbour, casting their nets into the clear water…… To them, this was just the start of another ordinary day. And as the sky turned from pink and purple to orange and red, the sun rose for the nal time.

2 days later, in another city…

Blurry faces appeared in front of a pair of brown eyes, then became clearer. e world was no longer dark. e boy surveyed his parent’s faces carefully, then started crying. He cried tears until they ran out, because nally, he could see. He could nally see the world. He could nally see colors. All because of a kind-hearted person out there, who donated a pair of cornea to him. Rays of sunlight shone into his eyes. To him, the sun rose for the rst time.