Ethan laughed a good natured laugh, raising a hand to halt ease her embarrassment, "There now it is quite alright. Really I have done something similar on numerous occasions." In fact Ethan could not count the number times he had approached people assuming they were someone else, or began a conversation with a total stranger. Ethan certainly understood what it was to mistake an identity.
The new information that flooded from the girl made Ethan raise an eyebrow. A Ghost? He had never believed that the existed, and in fact he still held his doubts that what the girl said was true. Yet how then could he explain what he had felt? How could he explain her sudden appearance, and how she had gotten so close without making even the smallest of sounds? Perhaps she was a Ghost, but even if she was, Ethan did not care for the idea of being possessed, though he smiled none the less.
"Ah, a Ghost? I believe then that you are the first I have ever met." he said, not seeming at all distrubed by the nature of the girl that stood before him. Then again, for a man who had never even seen his own reflection the thought of something he did not understand was not foreign, "And you are correct, I do not carry the gift of sight as many do. I have been blinded ever since I was a child, however, never once have I felt I could not see.
Ethan closed his eyes and once more tilted his head back, raising both arms out at his side. In his left hand he held the simple branch, torn from a tree, which served as his cane, while his left he held open, palm up, "Though I cannot say I have seen the light of the sun, I have felt its warmth and glow. I can feel it reigning high over head, impossibly far because when I reach up I cannot touch it." He touched a finger to his ear, "Though I cannot recognize a person by their face, when they speak they are as unique from me or you as can be. I can hear when a person breaths, or takes a step. I can listen to the movements of the wind to tell me of large or small a space is." he raised his hand to touch his cheek, "Though my eyes cannot tell me, my touch can give me the details of a person's features. I carry within my mind the faces of my loved ones, imprinted upon my fingers so that I could never forget."
He lowered his arms, looking in the direction of the apparent ghost girl, his eyes still closed and a smile still on his lips, "Even if my eyes are closed, I can still see you clearly as if I had sight. I can hear you when you speak, feel the chill of your touch and the brush of your hand. I can hear the sadness in your song, and I can see that there is more to you than many might give you credit for." Ethan touched his closed eyelids, laughing, "I believe it is not I who is handicaped, but those who must rely on their sight are the ones who are truly blinded. For, though the see the world, they cannot see what is truly within it." |
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