✧･ﾟ: * one *:･ﾟ✧

Madeline is insane.

Or at least someone might have called her that if they knew about what she's doing.

She walks through the house she knows all too well easily, swiftly maneuvering into the kitchen where she knows her mother stashes extra cash. She counts the drawers to the fourth one, then quietly pulls it open and rummages around as silently as she can. It's not hard to find the deluxe sized matchbox by its rough edges. She pushes the large carton out to ensure the money is in there, then she tucks it into her backpack and closes the drawer.

She doesn't let herself think about what she's doing. She knows she'll change her mind if she ponders too long. She can't turn back, anyways. She already called a cab to take her to the airport. She just hopes there's still tickets left for the plane.

She locks the front door after closing it cautiously, pausing a moment to confirm her mother hasn't stirred. Out cold, probably. Madeline doesn't need her eyesight to know there was an empty bottle of vodka on the kitchen counter.

She shrugs her backpack strap further up her arm, tuning her ears into the sounds around her. It's not so difficult to get around her hometown anymore. After her mentor Lisa, who's also blind, taught her how to use her other senses, it almost feels like she isn't blind. You know, if she could see it would feel that way.

She hears the cab pulling up when it's a couple blocks away from her house. No one is driving at this hour anyways. It makes her second guess herself even more considering she's never been in a cab before, but she pushes the thoughts away quickly and approaches the car.

She makes certain it's the backdoor car handle before climbing in, then says bluntly, "Airport."

The cab driver is quiet for a moment before he says, "You're not some runaway, right? I don't need that kind of drama with my boss."

She rolls her eyes—being blind hasn't stopped that bad habit of hers. "No, I'm not a runaway."

She hears him settle back against his seat in relief.

The rest of the ride is silent.

Then comes the tricky part: navigating the airport. She tries not to think negatively about the fact that she's never step foot in an airport, and instead uses that knowledge to motivate her. She needs to get out of this crappy state. She needs to experience things, even if it's only a different smell in the air. Even if it's only the grass feeling stiffer between her toes. She needs to know what the rest of the world is like. She can't wait anymore.

Her mom promised her once that when Madeline got her sight back, she'd take her traveling. Hard to believe since the operation is a decade's worth of her mother's pay, especially since all her mother does is spend her paychecks on alcohol and takeout every night. She can't rely on her mother anymore. She knows that operation is only part of her dreams, anyways.

She takes a deep breath and enters the automatic doors. She listens to the serenity of the place. It's quiet for an airport compared to movies, but she can only assume it's because of the late hour. Not many people choose to be awake at three in the morning.

She hears her footsteps as she walks. She tries to find the sound of a receptionist or even the metal detectors so she could ask someone. She hates asking people for help, though. They always apologize that she can't see as if it's their fault. She knows it's pity, but it's annoying all the same. Saying sorry doesn't change the way she is.

She hears someone cough near her and turns in their direction. "Excuse me," she calls. "Which way to buy a ticket?"

Footsteps get closer to her, and she fights the urge to take a step back. "Can't you read?" an elder-sounding man snaps.

"If I could, do you really think I'd waste my time asking you?" She folds her arms across her chest. "You need eyesight to read. Which I don't have. So be a decent person and help me, please."

The "please" may or may not have been thrown in sarcastically.

She hears the man gasp quietly, a noise normal ears wouldn't detect. "Oh, um... my-my apologies. I'll lead you there, yeah?"

She would rather throw herself through a window, but she reluctantly takes the man's elbow instead. She has a list of things to do, after all. There will be time for window jumping later.

"Thank you," she grumbles insincerely, but she was raised with manners and would feel guilty if she didn't say it.

"Of course. Again, I apologize for—"

"No need. Bye."

The man hesitates, then leaves.

Madeline breathes a sigh of relief, then places her hands on the counter. "Excuse me?"

A woman's voice answers her. "How can I help you?"

"Are there any available flights to Rome?"

The woman doesn't speak for a moment, then she says, "There aren't any going straight to Rome, but there is one that leaves in about three hours for Paris."

Madeline stifles a groan. "So I'd have to get another flight there?"

"Yes, I'm afraid."

No problem, Madeline thinks. You've always wanted to go to Paris, too.

Rome, however, is at the top of her list.

"How much?"

Madeline doesn't bother to be embarrassed anymore when she can't count the money. She's used to ordering her own food and buying her own clothes at this point that it doesn't phase her. So when she pulls out the matchbox of money and hands it to the woman, she isn't surprised when the woman chuckles in confusion.

"I'm blind," Madeline says dully.

"Oh... sorry."

Madeline suppresses an eye roll. "I trust you'll be honest and only take what I owe."

She can feel the woman's surprise by the way she stammers. "O-of course, I would never... Of course. Here you are."

"Thank you."

She takes the ticket and her matchbox, tucks both of them in her backpack, then cautiously wanders around until she purposefully bumps into a chair. She's got three hours to kill, after all. She digs her headphones out of her bag and slumps in the chair. She puts an alarm on her phone to wake her up an hour before the plane arrives, then closes her eyes.

***

It hasn't been the best day—night? morning?—for Madeline.

She woke up like she was supposed to and went back to the ticket lady, asking for directions on the gate she's supposed to go to. The lady didn't offer to lead her like the crude man had earlier, so Madeline had to trust her instincts. Which is hard to do in an unfamiliar place, no matter how good she is at not bumping into anything.

She asked three different people at three different gates before someone finally volunteered to help her. The problem turned out to be that she was all the way on the other side of the airport. She told the young man helping her that she was in a hurry, and he held her arm while the two jogged. Madeline hates running, or even something as miniscule as speed-walking. It makes her anxious.

She made it to the proper gate with four minutes until take off.

Luckily, security had been easy enough.

Finding her seat was the next issue.

She accidentally stroked a woman across the face. Then she smacked someone else with her backpack. A nasally woman in the back was shouting at her to hurry up and find her seat. Madeline was sleep-deprived and fed up.

"Can someone just tell me where seat 5, J is?"

Someone must have caught on to the problem because there was an arm on hers in an instant. "It's this way, love," a motherly voice said. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, I'm all right. Thank you."

Madeline was shocked with the stranger's kindness, but incredibly grateful.

She fell asleep again soon after.

Which is how she's now being gently shaken awake by the same woman, informing her they've arrived.

Madeline feels butterflies in her stomach.

She knows this is what she needs.

She knows it'll be the journey of a lifetime.