Ravela was nervous. It had been a week since she visited Sheriff Thorn in the office and the man had been more than eager to help her.
She was sitting on a bus on her way to take the first steps to get a driver’s license. She had never driven a car in her life, at least not that she could remember.
Ravela thought of the lake and her fear of the water. She had seen many people swim in the lake throughout the year, but for some reason, the thought of doing that filled her with dread.
These thoughts were swept aside the moment the bus cleared the forest. On either side of the road, the trees were in the full colorful motion of fall. The morning sun twinkled through the red, yellow, and orange leaves. It had been a new and beautiful experience for Ravela.
The small bus carried the usual load of workers to their destination, the start of their morning shift. Ravela felt the sun on her forehead and closed her eyes, the warmth she felt from it even though Namon told her that it was already quite cold outside. She didn’t feel that way. No, to her the only difference was the colorful display of the trees. More enchanting than spring, more comforting than summer.
The bus arrived at its destination, pulling into its pocket in the middle of the main street, equidistant to all the storefronts.
Ravela got off the bus last, nodding at the bus driver on her way out. She made her way to the courthouse. Outside of the courthouse, Sheriff Thorn stood waiting.
“Blessed morning, Ramiel. Ready to start on your path to becoming an adult?” Sheriff Thorn greeted him enthusiastically.
Ravela nodded her agreement, “Yes, let’s. How is your son doing?”
Sheriff Thorn beamed, “Every day he gets better. They say he and his men will be out of the hospital in two weeks. My son thinks he will do it in one. He plans to be back on the job before the doctors think they’ll discharge him.” Thorn laughed a rasping laugh masking all the worries that she could see in his eyes.
“I see. I am sure he’ll be back to his best health soon enough.” Ravela soothed the sheriff’s worries.
“To that, his mother and I pray every night. Amen,” The sheriff said looking up at the sky for a moment.
Ravela followed the man inside and they made their way to an office, the sign read ´Leroy Mulage - Department of Motor Vehicles´. Ravela had a face flash through her head.
“Oh dear, this is a coincidence for sure.” Ravela declared unsure if this was good or bad news. The last week had seen some serious drama between Laena, Safora, and Melle, the daughter of Mr. Mulage. Somehow Ravela’s name had ended up in that conversation and that teenage storm of broken friendship had rocked the town quite hard. She sincerely hoped the father wouldn’t blame her for the fallout between his daughter and her friends.
The sheriff knocked on the door. Ravela calculated her odds of this encounter going smoothly without a hitch while they entered.
“Blessed morning, Sheriff Thorn,” Leroy Mulage greeted his guest, “and Mr. Roice. To what do I owe this visit?”
Ravela imagined just the slightest hint of tenseness in his voice. Ravela nodded her head as a greeting and allowed the sheriff to do the talking.
“Well, Ramiel here wants to start the process of applying for his license,” Sheriff Thorn opened the conversation.
“Does he have a valid ID yet?” Mr. Mulage inquired.
The sheriff made an apologetic gesture and rubbed his hands together. “Leroy, can’t he at least start the formal procedure? I mean you really only need the ID once you get to the written test and the formal issuing of the license.”
Mr. Mileage crossed his arms, he didn’t how this conversation was developing. “You aren’t wrong, but this is highly unusual. I don’t see why we need to rush the procedure here.”
Sheriff Thorn hummed thoughtfully, “Usually, I would agree. However, Mr. Roice has a very troublesome start to overcome here. So in the spirit of helping a fellow man in need, to spare him losing years of his life to the troublesome process,” Thorn paused for a moment before layering on the main punch, “and in light of his recent good deed in regards to my son, I really hope we could make his progress to getting his life back on track easy on him. What do you say, Leroy? I remember way back when you were just a young boy if everybody held you back and put stones in your path, how would your life have been stalled?”
Leroy Mulage leaned back in his chair. Puffing his breath through his nose as he mulled over the sheriff’s words. “I probably wouldn’t have been on the train where I met Mira. Fine then, I will help Mr. Roice here, but only to the point where the forms will be required.”
Ravela made a slight bow, “Thank you.”
Leroy Mulage looked at him wagging his finger like he had some other things he wanted to say. Instead, he reached down to one of his drawers and pulled out two books. “So, these two books are for you to study. One is for the road signs. You have to know them for the rest of your driving life, so study them well. The other book contains formulas for distance tracking to the cars in front of your, break distance, and traffic rules beyond signs. A wealth of questions scenarios and more all of which could be part of your theoretical test, but will definitely be part of your practical driving experience.”
The books landed on the desk with an audible plop. Ravela looked at these books one slim and manageable the other hefty and heavy. “What else is required to get a driver’s license?” Ravela inquired.
Mr. Mulage got up from his chair and reached for a pamphlet, “I am glad you asked,” he pulled the pamphlet from a stack of its brethren and handed it over to Ravela, “As you will see, you will enjoy at least 20 hours of practical driving lessons. That is the bare minimum. Additionally, 4 hours on the interstate road and highway and we will sprinkle in 5 hours of nighttime driving. If you time it right all that will happen during winter. That will give you a great wealth of experience, as opposed to those who learn to drive in the summer.”
Mr. Mulage walked around the desk as he regaled Ravela with the requirements. “You can take the theoretical test during the week here, but I recommend you study these books for a long time. It is actually in your favor that you don’t have your ID yet. It will stop you from rushing things and failing the test. I assume you will be paying for these books in cash?” Leroy Mulage ended his explanation.
Ravela nodded, “Yes, you would be right, and thank you for the thorough introduction to what lays before me.” She pulled out her wallet and asked, “How much do I owe you?”
Mr. Mileage stopped for a second as if he lost his train of thought. He walked back to the other side of his desk and read from an index card. “That will be 20 dollars,” He declared and got pulled out a small booklet from one of the drawers of his desk. He wrote the recipe for Ravela and peeled it from the booklet with a prickling crinkle that tickled Ravela’s ear. They exchanged the recipe and money. “Do not lose this, Ramiel.”
Mr. Mulage walked around the desk once again. “Then we will get to the medical requirement. Sheriff Thorn here will take you to the eye specialist to confirm that you are not visually impaired and in need of glasses. Have a good day you two,” He said as he guided them to the door.
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Sheriff Thorn laughed and said, “Alright, thank you. We’ll be on our way.”
When the door closed behind them the sheriff walked a bit down the hall before he turned to Ravela and said, “Was that just me or is there something going on here I should know about?”
Ravela kinda shrugged, “I am sure it is nothing personal. His daughter, Laena and Safora, the ones helping me study, had some falling out, and I somehow ended up with some egg on my face in that little drama. Nothing that won’t blow over in time, I hope.”
The sheriff nodded and started walking again. “Well, I sure hope this blows over fast, Leroy needs a calm home and not teenagers' feuding. The poor man.” Sherrif Thorn sighed. “In any case, let's get you to the eye specialist and then back to Old Gradjia.”
Ravela couldn’t agree more. She couldn’t wait to start working through the materials that would bring her closer to leading an independent life.
They crossed the street together. Entering a store full of glasses in different forms. “Blessed morning, is doctor Han already upstairs?”
The young man behind the register looked up. “Yes, he certainly is there. But Sheriff, what brings you here? Hopefully not business.”
The sheriff laughed, “No, Hamil. Not really business. My friend here,” Sheriff said presenting Ravela, “needs to have a check-up for his eyesight for his driver’s license.”
Ravela nodded and jumped in, “Blessed morning, I am Ramiel.”
Hamil opened a book and checked the schedule. “If it is just a simple test of the eyesight, I am sure we can squeeze you in before the first patient arrives. We will be charging 20 dollars for the first test and official certification.”
Ravela paid the money and was sent up on her own. This was a welcome change in Ravela's opinion. It showed that the Sheriff had more confidence in her now than he had when they first met.
Ravela reached a small waiting room, and a young woman opened the door a moment later. Their eyes met and Ravela received the warmest most welcoming smile she had ever seen.
“Good morning, Mr. Roice, was it? Step into my office, let’s see what your eyes can do.” Doctor Han greeted her.
Ravela smiled back. “Please and thank you,” She said as she follow the doctor into her office. She sat down in a chair opposite a placard full of letters and rings open in different places.
“Alright, please cover your left eye and tell me the letter or the analog time reference for where the ring is open.” She pulled out a thin telescope indicator and pointed and the gigantic lettering of the first row, “For instance, this first ring is open at seven o'clock.”
Ravela nodded her understanding.
“Wonderful, then we will start,” Doctor Han let the indicator wander down the big poster, “this row here. Please read them to me as you see them.”
“Hm,” Ravela hummed her understanding and began, “E, D, F, seven o’clock, Z, P, and nine o’clock.”
“Two rows below that, please,” Doctor Han requested.
Ravela looked and read it without issue. “D, three o’clock, F, R, O, E, Q, B, P, and twelve o’clock.”
“Okay, three rows below that. Can you still read them?”
Ravela shrugged, “Sure. P, Z, L, 4 o’clock, O, D, C, T, 11 o’clock, Q, F.”
Doctor Han looked at Ravela for a second. “So….hm, let’s do the last row. You don’t need to guess just say the symbol or letter if you are certain or ‘don’t know’ if you can’t.”
“S, 2 o’clock, O, F, R, Q, E, O, L, 3 o’clock, B, D, Z.” Ravela rattled off without hesitation.
Doctor Han looked stunned for a moment. “Okay, please cover your other eye and read all the lines you’ve read in the order as before but this time back to front, please.”
Ravela covered her right eye and began reading every row backward with no issue.
“That is impressively good eyesight. Alright, next let me see how your side vision does,” Doctor Han excitedly declared. “Please, keep facing toward the poster.”
Ravela watched as the doctor went to her desk and got a bunch of signs.
“Okay, for the peripheral vision I will be holding up a picture, and you without looking sideways have to tell me all the details you pick up.” Doctor Han stepped right in front of Ravela. “Please keep eye contact with me while I hold up the picture.”
Ravela looked right at the sparkling brown eyes of the beautiful young woman. She smiled. “Of course, doctor,” Ravela said with Ramiel’s smooth voice.
Doctor Han put up the first picture, and Ravela’s urge to look at it was strong purely out of reflex, but Ravela controlled herself. The picture on her left side still easily discernible to her shows a young boy running after a ball behind a red car. on the hood of the car were sandy spots left by a cat’s feet. Ravela took note of the license plate, the air freshener hanging from the mirror, the rain boots of the boy, and the colors of the ball.
Doctor Han took down the picture. “So then, tell me what did you see?”
Ravela began to describe in detail the scene in the picture. She went into great detail while keeping eye contact with Doctor Han. A bit of amazement crept into the doctor’s expression the more Ravela describe.
“That…is…amazing. Really something,” she said while looking down at the picture. “Let us do the other side too.”
Ravela again locked eyes with the doctor memorizing the picture from the corner of her eyes.
Doctor Han’s face became an unreadable mask. “This is highly unusual. I might need to do a comprehensive exam.”
Ravela frowned and asked, “Is something wrong.”
“No, not really, but I wish to make sure. If you are alright with it I would like to use some eye drops to check on your eyes.” Doctor Han said, sounding awfully excited.
Ravela got the feeling that this was more to satisfy the doctor's curiosity than to determine her eyesight. “Well, is there a risk in taking these eye drops?”
“Oh, none at all. You might not be able to see properly for the rest of the day and should avoid looking directly at light sources, but otherwise, you’ll be just fine.” Doctor Han smiled her warm smile but Ravela picked up on the eagerness that was now mixed in with her expression. The woman was basically oozing it.
Ravela got nervous. “Well, if it’s in my best interest to make sure that everything is alright,” Ravela thought of an out on the spot. “But this certainly would cost extr-”
She didn’t even get to finish her sentence before Doctor han jumped in, “Not at all, that’s on the house really. Mr. Roice, please, let me do this for you.” She placed a hand on Ravela’s shoulder, and Ravela was certain that it wasn’t reassurance the doctor communicated. Ravela realized that she was being charmed.
“Well, well,” Ravela had no other excuse ready on this very spot. “if Doctor Han says so, I certainly can’t refuse.”
The doctor rubbed his shoulders. “Please, call me Chi, Ramiel.”
Ravela suddenly found herself in a weird spot. To her mind, Chi was getting a bit thick on her persuasive charm after she had already succeeded.
“Alright, please sit back in the chair and look up for me.” Doctor Han steered Ravela into position. Ravela watched on as she buzzed through the room. She couldn’t get the droplets fast enough.
A few moments later she had the drops in her eye and felt the change in her sight slowly.
Doctor Han looked fascinated if a bit blurry. Tears ran down Ravela’s face as the ambient light became ever more glaring. “Fascinating, I’ve never quite seen an optical nerve as immaculate as this one. If I didn’t know any better I would say someone had woven them by hand. So clean and structured. Ramiel, your eyes are quite something.”
Ravela responded. “Thank you, for the compliment. Your eyes are quite something too, as an amateur opinion, of course.”
Doctor Han giggled, and the light became more glaring still. Ravela waited patiently for doctor Han to complete her inspection enduring the ever-brighter vision.
“Okay, I think we’re done. How are you, Ramiel?”
Ravela could only see rough shapes. The entire room was a bright light. She felt blind and disoriented. “Not so good the light is blinding.” Ravela understated her predicament. The various shaped of lights barely had any contours left for Ravela to discern.
“Don’t worry, this will be over by tomorrow morning. But shield your eyes from direct sunlight. Your optical nerves are exposed, and currently, direct light should be avoided for prolonged times.”
Ravela nodded. “Good thing, Sheriff Thorn can help me out. I think he said something about a ride home.”
Doctor Han asked. “Oh, back to where?”
Ravela thought she heard curiosity in the voice of an ill-defined white specter. “Oh, back to Old-Gradjia. I am…a guest there.”
Ravela twitched a bit as the shape moved closer. She felt Doctor Han slip her arm under her arm. “How interesting, are you a tourist?”
“No, not really. I- My situation is complicated,” Ravela was flustered and fumbled her words. “I lost my memories and arrived here earlier this year. Sheriff Thorn and Keeper Namon are helping me…getting back into society and life.”
Ravela was guided back to the waiting room and down the stairs. “Oho, how mysterious. A young handsome man like you losing his memory, stranding in this little plot of nowhere. You must be single because if I were your wife I would have come to pick you back up, that much is sure,” Chi Han said and Ravela noticed her getting physically closer to herself. Leaning a bit on her shoulder.
Ravela looked down at the hand with Ramiel’s ring, not that she could see it, to distract Doctor Han. “Yeah, I too was wondering about that,” She tried to sound gloomy. “But nobody came.”
“Ramiel, what took you so long? Doctor Han, why are you guiding Ramiel? What did you do?” Sheriff Thorn inquire.
Doctor Han let go of Ravela. “Well, I had to check his eyes with drops. I will give the results to you. Let’s say tomorrow morning. But his eyesight is stellar. Could you bring them to him for me? Seeing as you two know each other. Oh, and Ramiel might need a ride home.”
Ravela felt something slip over her eyes. Some kind of mask, Ravela realized after feeling for it. “So you don’t accidentally look into the sun or other lights.”
Ravela’s senses began to distort more and more. Her doubts over those drops became a lot bigger. Something on her tongue was tasting sweet, sour, bitter, and…yellow?
She opened her eyes once again under the protective mask and all she saw was a warbling, luminescent sea of colors.
Something was definitely not right. Ravela smiled a helpless smile trying to keep the facade. All her senses began to warp the only thing she still trusted were her hearing and sense of touch.
Suddenly shots rang out. She could hear Sheriff Thorn curse and could hear the front door fly open as the Sheriff ran toward a danger Ravela could not smell, see or taste… or maybe she could…
The air tasted purple and spicy. It smelled of sulfur and peaches. Could she even trust her hearing right now? Doctor Han was talking loudly to Hamil so something definitely happened. Ravela was hit by a wave of helplessness.
Ravela was having a terrible trip.