Looking through the peephole of his front door, he saw a mixture of dirt and sand that had blown into the glass. Wiping it with his thumb, he saw a man in an outrageously bold-colored suit. Mr. Henry opened his oak door slowly and with a cocked eyebrow, asked, “May I help you?”

Wearing a pair of black, tinted sunglasses with a curious blood red frame on his face, the odd man replied, “May I help you!”. In the same way his shallow grin was plastered on his face, stretching from ear to ear, the man’s voice also seemed to radiate politeness not from courtesy, but rather from habit, as if it was his job to be nice to Mr. Henry. “Here, in my hands, I hold something more valuable than the purest diamond in the world!”

Looking down the man’s bright, checkered red and black sleeve all the way down to his hands, Mr. Henry saw only a small glasses container like the ones he put his reading glasses in. Despite his scruples about the container, Mr. Henry was too kind of a man to turn away a desperate salesman. So against his inner voice, he kindly invited the man in to elaborate.

Upon entering the dining room, Mr. Henry looked back to further lead his unwelcome guest to sit down at his fine mahogany dining table. The salesman was feeling every inch of furniture in his living room. Clearing his throat, Mr. Henry, in a tired and strained voice, said, “Sir, if you will please just show me what you have to offer as I’m very tired because I’ve just come back from work.”

“Of course!” the man exclaimed, “And if I may say so, this gem of the world will soon relieve you of all your pain and tiredness.” Becoming more and more irritated by the salesman’s propaganda for his “magnificent” product, Mr. Henry nodded and gestured at a leather, cushioned dining chair of the same mahogany wood as the table. The man seemed not to notice so Mr. Henry walked across the wood floor and nudged him slightly toward the cushioned dining table.

As the mysterious man sat down, he smiled, revealing a set of perfect white teeth. “My dear friend, what I hold in this box may to you, the lucky winner, seem like nothing more than a pair of regular sunglasses. But I ask that you please at least try them on and then decide whether or not you want to buy them.”

Sighing with relief that all he had to do was try them on then say no, Mr. Henry gently picked the sunglasses up. Examining them, he mumbled something about the red color being nice as the man nodded with patience, then put them on. Looking through them, Mr. Henry, at first, saw nothing and wondered if there was some kind of black sticker on the lenses. He rubbed the tinted lenses and didn’t feel anything.

Then suddenly, in the right eye, words in green came up. Thinking they were some kind of new technology glasses, Mr. Henry began to read. “Congratulations! Lucky winner! You’ve won the seeing-eye glasses! These wonderful glasses are a gift from us, the Blind Ones. You are now free from the seeing world you were born into! Go out and spread our cure! Please ask your savior where to receive the cures and how to spread them! We hope to hear you soon.”

Thinking this was a joke, Mr. Henry slowly took his glasses off. He saw nothing. The world was pitch black and yet, he knew it was day because of the sunlight from his window beaming warmly on his hand. In despair, he rubbed his eyes harshly and felt a strong hand suddenly stop him. Angrily, Mr. Henry swung his arm randomly in the air.

Grabbing Mr. Henry’s arm, the odd man said, “I understand you. You want to go back. I’ll tell you what I was told. Wait it out and see if this world is truly as disabled as you think. In a week’s time, if I see that you absolutely belong in the seeing world, I will take back our gift. If you realize how much better our world is or do not attempt to accept our world, I will leave you with the gift permanently.”

Furious, Mr. Henry demanded, “No! You will change me back now.”
A light yet burdened smile appeared on the man’s face as he said, “Remember, a week.”

Throughout the week, Mr. Henry felt increasingly snappy and handicapped. He had to hire a nurse to help him with the basic routines of daily life like cooking and running. His seeing-eye dog seemed to attack him more than help him. By Friday, Mr. Henry had resigned to staying in bed the entire day.

On Saturday, Mr. Henry received a package with a post it saying, “Mr. Henry.” His nurse brought it to his bed and promptly fainted. Not noticing, Mr. Henry opened the box and felt inside until he felt something round and squishy. Curious, he felt around until another round object that was covered in mucas bumped his hand. Wondering, the idea suddenly struck him and he quickly put his hands to his eyes only to find that there was nothing there but his empty sockets.

And Mr. Henry screamed.