Writing Prompt: Walking in the Darkness
Does it help to close your eyes as you walk in the dark?
I do not know if you have done this, but I have, which is to close my eyes and walk in the darkness, at home, of course. Sometimes we see the darkness and yet we keep our eyes open, hoping that we can find our way, and see a few recognizable silhouettes, which will give us some comfort. At those times, I wondered to myself, if it would be easier, for me to just close my eyes and walk in the darkness. I only try this at home and would not dare to do this exercise outside.
If you had a character in your story who was blind, would you be able to create a world for the individual to explore? In that darkness, where there is nothing he or she can see, but only physically feel and sense the presence of would it be a challenge for you to write? How would you know how your character could maneuver through that dark world if you do not try to do it yourself?
Felicity was blind from the age of six when she lost her eyesight. Those images she remembered as a child she cherished and it helped her to imagine what the world was like around her as an adult. Felicity had completed her education and ended it with a degree in criminology. She loved the challenge of all the facets of the subjects. It was not easy for her at the start of the course, but she learned to use the power of her mental visualization, and kinaesthetic senses to create the scene of the crime and profile the murderer who entered that location.
It was not long before Felicity, was a detective and she was solving cases with her special abilities, to “sense” the crime scene and to create an intricate study into the mind of the criminal. The blind detective, who had her trusty dog, Conan, worked with the local police department and helped them solve several cases over the last fifteen years. She had managed to outfox the best murderers and criminals with her special powers of detection, deduction, the power to walk blindly into any crime scene, and to be able to recreate every step taken by the criminal from entering and exiting the place.
It was no surprise that one day, Felicity the blind detective was being stalked by a murderer she had put away, in prison and who managed to escape. This person was a clever man and he had undergone plastic surgery so that he could move around undetected. A week later, Felicity was guided by a charming man across the street, when she was on her own and Conan was hospitalized after something he ate. The man invited Felicity out for tea, which she gladly accepted. However, he had other plans in store for the blind detective. Felicity knew who she was going to have tea with, because there are some things, like the way a person smells, that cannot be changed. Felicity was going to have tea with a murderer but she had a trap waiting for the man.