“Under the dim light of the setting sun, the forest looks even more beautiful than it usually does. The tall pine trees appear majestic, and you must be able to hear the birds chirping on them,” I said as I clasped my grandmother’s hand and led her through the forest.

She nodded, telling me she actually could hear the birds chirping. Encouraged, I continued:

“You also must feel the cool forest air, freshening your body. Wild flowers are scattered on the unpaved ground of the forest and its fragrance overwhelms the atmosphere.

“Look, a squirrel has just scurried past your feet. It seems scared, so it hides behind a bush.

The bush is loaded with berries, but you’re not sure if they’re safe to eat so you leave them untouched,” I said and giggled when she pouted like a child.

“The tangling journey in the forest has left you tired, so you must rest now,” I said and she obliged. We both sat down on the bare ground near the bushes.

After resting for a while, she said: “Wow! You have a unique sense of portraying natural beauty, don’t you? Your words actually make me wish that had I been blessed with sight so that I too could have witnessed this beauty that you speak of,” my grandma said as she could not see.

After hearing the last few words of hers, my heart filled with grief. I looked around me and did not see the beautiful forest I had illustrated in her mind, but a bare land, thieved of all its beauty by the creation of God called humans.

And for the first time in my life, I wished that the reality was not true.

Published in Dawn, Young World, September 4th, 2021