[ WP ] A gifted eye surgeon is contacted by a 6 year old former patient . After 6 months , he wishes to be blind again .

The happiest day of my life was the day I was able to help my niece see again. When she was only three, her house burnt nearly to the ground, killing both of her parents. Deemed an accident- caused by a toaster or something- it was a miracle that little Annie made it out alive. First responders found the tiny toddler, seemingly unharmed, playing in a sandbox in her backyard with a few stuffed animals. 
 
 It took a lot of hard work, and a very long time for me and my colleagues to even begin the process of working on her eyesight again. Firstly, we had no idea what was even wrong. Some theorized that her eyes were damaged by the smoke, though we'd never seen a case like this. Eventually, we just started testing things that were n't too evasive for the young child. Thankfully, I was written to be her legal guardian and had the means to help her out. I'm not sure what I would have done if she was lost in the system. 
 
 A couple months after her 6th birthday, after many a trial and error, we sat in my office, bandages wrapped around her tiny face as they had been many times before. It broke my heart every time it had n't worked in the past, though the cheerful little girl never seemed to mind. She had a great imagination, and often was lost in her own world of tea parties with her stuffies. 
 
 `` Annie?'' she looked up at the sound of my voice and smiled. 
 
 `` Yes, uncle?'' 
 
 `` Are you ready for me to take the bandages off?'' 
 
 `` Uh-huh! I sure am!'' I smiled, a pressure building behind my eyes. 
 
 `` Okay, sweetie. Do n't be too upset if this does n't work, alright? I'm not gon na stop till you're fixed.'' As I leaned a hand in to undo them, she caught my arm with hers, staring up at me with a slight frown. 
 
 `` Uncle?'' 
 
 `` Yes, sweetie?'' 
 
 `` Uncle, you do n't have to fix me.'' She smiled sweetly. 
 
 `` I... I know, sweetie. I just wan na be able to let you see again. You do remember everything, right?'' 
 
 `` Uh-huh! I remember, uncle! I remember lots. But... That's not what I meant.'' 
 
 `` Hmm... What did you mean?'' 
 
 `` I meant... You do n't have to fix me... Cause I aint brokded, am I?'' 
 
 My heart broke. I'd fixated so long on making her better, in memory of my sister and brother in law, that I never actually thought that... maybe this was too much for her. Maybe in 20 years, she'd want to get her vision back and they'd have some easy-peasy technology to give it back to her. I was suddenly sick with myself. 
 
 `` No, you're right, Annie. You're not broken. You're perfect.'' She let out an adorable giggle, nodding eagerly to what I said. `` And, ya know what? If this does n't work, we do n't have to keep trying. What ever you want to do, sweetheart.'' 
 
 `` Thanks, uncle. I'mma big girl now! Got ta... Focus on ma studies! Like two and two is four!'' She held up two fingers on either hand, still giggling away. 
 
 With baited breath, I slowly began to unwrap the bindings. Whatever happens, happens. Whatever happens, happens. Over and over I had repeated this mantra to myself, and over and over, I had ignored it. Not this time though. This time, I'd leave her be. Once the bindings were off, I leaned back in my chair, pulling a chart off the desk, waited to be disappointed yet again. 
 
 `` Uncle...?'' She asked sadly, tilting her head up at me, big green eyes bright as ever in the florescent lights overhead. 
 
 `` Yeah, Annie?'' I sighed, turning my sight toward the chart in my lap. 
 
 `` Uncle. Your hair looks just like mommy's did.'' 
 
 -- -- -- -- - 
 The next 8 months of our lives flew by so quickly. People started flooding into our office to get treated by the'miracle' team. Local papers were pumping out story after story of us, the town falling more and more in love with Annie as she happily explained to anyone that would listen about her love of everything. 
 
 And love everything she did. Plenty of people who regain their vision or sight what to absorb as much of the thing they've been without, however, most people need time to adjust. The world is noisy and bright, after all. Not little Annie, though. Everyday was a zoo trip, or a park, or hell, she even loved museums. She loved everything and anything she could get her eyes on. 
 
 On the first of September, Annie and I entered my office for her check up. Initially, we did them almost every week, but after her vision showed nothing but improvement, we decided we'd do them once a month. Everything was always better than the last week. The kid even had better vision than I did. 
 
 After all the normal doctor mumbo jumbo, we usually took an hour or so to just sit and talk about things she saw and liked. I'd ask her to come up with her favourite things, draw me pictures of them, and then we could talk about them- different sizes, different colours, those sorts of things. 
 
 `` Alright, little Annie! Are you ready to ready to show me some pictures?'' She giggled, climbing into the comfy chair across from me, a little pink folder gripped tightly in her hands. 
 
 `` I sure am uncle!'' 
 
 The first few pictures were normal, and ever adorable. A picture of my brothers dog, Max, a picture of our day at the beach a few months ago, some of her friends from school, her favourite toys. I was trying to get her to explain things with sight-related adjectives. Initially, I thought I was pressing my luck, but the kid is so smart! 
 
 One, however, stood out. It was a picture of four chairs at the little table in her room, one with her in it, one with a rabbit in it, one with a cat in it, and the third was empty. I would have looked over it, but it looked like something she really put a lot of time into. She tried really hard to stay fully inside lines, she even threw a few shadows in. 
 
 The longer I looked at the picture, the stranger it became. Especially when I looked further at the empty chair. She'd taken the time to give all three places- even the empty one- a plate and a cup full of tea. The plate in front of the cat had a cupcake on it, the plate in front of the rabbit had a leaf on it, and the third plate had only crumbs on it. 
 
 `` Annie? What's this picture about?'' 
 
 `` Oh, uncle. It's a tea party, silly? See? That's me, and Fluffy Cat and Floppy Rabbie.'' She pointed enthusiastically at each animal. 
 
 `` What about this chair? Does someone sit there?'' She nodded happily. The hairs on the back of my neck began to stand on end. 
 
 `` Well, why are n't they in the picture?'' Her brow furrowed a little. 
 
 `` Well... He's.. special, uncle.'' 
 
 `` H-how... How do you mean special, Annie?'' Pieces of odd behaviours and strange conversations came trickling into my memory at that moment. I tried to shake them away. Things like this do n't happen. This is real life, not some creepy-pasta. 
 
 `` Well... Whenever I look at him, he looks different. So, I ca n't draw him in the picture with us. Cause he do n't fit!'' My throat swelled up. 
 
 `` And um... What does he look like, Annie?'' 
 
 `` Oh, I drew him by himself, uncle! Looket, looket!'' She leaned forward, pulling a paper from the piled and showing it to me. My heart hammered in my chest, loud enough that I thought my body was vibrating, until I saw the picture- it was a tiny stuffed bear. 
 
 `` Oh. It's just a stuffed animal?'' 
 
 `` Kinda, yeah! That's Tibbers. He's my best friend. He takes care of me, uncle. He was there when mommy and daddy went away.'' My heart sank. She rarely brought her parents up. 
 
 `` I'm glad you have such a good friend then, Annie. I hope he keeps you safe for a long time, sweetie.'' I laughed to myself, shaking my head. Silly me, thinking she was seeing ghosts or something of the sort. Why would my mind even go there? 
 
 Reaching for the next page, I noticed something on the back of the picture of the little bear. Flipping it over, I was confused at the picture I saw. It was the same bear, but... realistic. Instead of a small stuffed animal, with button eyes, it was a giant bear with fiery eyes. My heart sank. 
 
 Is this how she was choosing to remember her parents? With a creepy, patchwork bear that's surrounded by fire? My life flashed to many therapy visits, and an eventually sad girl, lost without her parents. How could I save her? What could I do for her? 
 
 `` Oohh, that's Tibbers too, Uncle! See, I told'ja he changed.'' She did n't seem phased in the least by my sudden concern. 
 
 `` I see that, Annie. What... What happens when he changes?'' 
 
 `` Well... He gets bigger, kinda like uncle Mike's puppy. And everything around him is pretty hot. He does n't like the cold too much. And uhmm... He does n't like Tommy, from school.'' Her casualness of the bear was confusing me. Here I thought it was some twisted metaphor. 
 
 `` Why does n't he like Tommy?'' 
 
 `` Well, I was playin' outside with Tibbers- he likes to play with me- and Tommy came up and was makin' fun of me. He says'Only babies play with stuffies!' and picked Tibbers up and threw'em!'' 
 
 Something in me panicked for a moment. But I could n't think of what it was. I just nodded along for her to keep talking. 
 
 `` An' I told'em,'Tommy, leave Tibbers alone! He has n't done nothin'!' But he would n't listen. He kept laughin' at me, and calling me a baby. And he went over to pick up Tibbers again, but then he runed away.'' 
 
 `` Why... Why did Tommy run away, Annie?'' She looked away sheepishly. 
 
 `` Tibbers burnt up his hand, and he got upset, so he runed off to the bathroom.'' 
 
 I stared at the floor, eyes wide. Burned? Surely there was no way... She mentioned the bear being there when her parents... But it's just a stuffed animal... 
 
 `` Uncle?'' I looked up at her slowly with disbelief. 
 
 `` Ye-yeah, Annie?'' 
 
 `` Me and Tibbers are boreeedddd. Can we play a game?'' She stood up in her chair, giving me a cute little curtsy. 
 
 `` Annie, did you bring Tibbers with you?'' She nodded happily. 
 
 `` Yu-huh! I left'em on your desk so you could meet him, too, uncle!'' She looked behind me. Frozen in fear, I watched as her eyes slowly trained upward, the grin on her face growing wider and wider, a shadow looming over her from behind me. 
 
 `` Uncle, me and Tibbers wan na play! Do you wan na play, too? It'll be fun!'' 
 
 I felt a huff of breath on the back of my neck. 
 

