All Seeing

Written By Amit Vaidyanathan (Grade 8)

I was sitting in the waiting room for my monthly dentist’s appointment, bored out of my mind as always. I decided to pick up one of the books Dr. Reynolds had there. It had a black cover and wasn’t very thick. It didn’t have any title on the spine, so I was taking guesses as to what the title would be, holding the book up and scanning it. “Mr Smith, the dentist will be with you shortly.” I jumped and looked back. Just the nurse, I thought. I thanked her and was back to my business, picking at my fingernails, staring at the boring, beige wall. I then realized I was still holding the book.

But what I saw made me shrink. As I was looking at the book, the book was looking at me! There was an orangish-yellow eye with a black, reptilian-like vertical pupil. It darted around wildly for a few seconds, and then fixated on me. As my eyes focused on the eye, I realised that it was physically implanted in the book. It was a sphere, half of which protruded from the book, using parts of the cover as its eyelids. I was shocked. Wait a minute, I thought. That wasn’t there a minute ago. Suddenly, I threw the book away with full force.

The nurse came running back, wide-eyed. “Is everything okay?” she asked, and I responded in the affirmative. She walked away slowly, looking back at me multiple times as if she worried about my state. I realised I had gone fully pale. As I looked back, warily, at the book, I saw it move. I swear I saw it. The book flailed. Then, it was still. I gingerly picked it up, and it was back to normal. It was just a black book, no eye, with slightly yellowed pages. As I turned the page, I saw it. The Art Of Ophthalmology: A Comprehensive Guide To The Eyes.

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