Louis tapped his way along the hall, making his way back up the stairs and to the main deck. He excused himself when he thought he might have grown too close to someone, and could almost feel their double-takes and the way their eyes lingered a bit more than they should. But he was used to that. People seemed to take a disability like blindness far more seriously than they should. It was as though Louis had the tendency to wander into traffic or fall off walls, or find himself floating down a river or into the middle of a lake.

When the bright sunlight hit his face, warming him, Louis found the railing and kept one hand around it. The hand around his cane slacked a little, and he brought it up, collapsing the cane and swinging it at his side. He still looked a bit out of place, no doubt, in his dark clothing. But he preferred it. Black, white, and gray were simple enough, and no matter what he grabbed it tended to match. It even matched his jet black hair.

Louis scanned the world around him with unseeing eyes that had once been a deep blue, but now had a discoloring film that made them nearly white. But Louis imagined it in his mind, seeing bright blue waves, light blue sky, a city below them. He loved it all, and though he couldn't lay eyes on it himself, he trusted those he was close to to describe the view so he could see. He smiled, walking confidently with his cane at his side.