Freida did not in the slightest expect to come across such a moment in which a person who was completely blind would be the one who would eventually save her from being involved in an accident that could have caused her harm. If it weren't for the blind man, she would have been hurt badly by now, and in the worst-case scenario, she might have even been dead if the impact had been severe enough.
Freida was suddenly overcome with an overwhelming desire to find out if the man was, in fact, blind. Because of this, she moved closer to him and waved the free hand she had available in front of his face. It was confirmed that the man was indeed blind after she had repeated it twice more.
"Hey, are you still there?" Freida was abruptly interrupted by the blind man.
"Uh, err, yes." She was on the verge of being distracted by the thought that the man might have seen what she was doing. Even though the blind man was unable to see her, Freida quickly regained her composure in front of him.
"I believe the traffic light has already turned red. It doesn't sound like the cars are moving aren't they?" He suddenly told her.
"Yes." Freida replied.
The fact that the blind man had such acute hearing captured Freida's attention, and she found it fascinating. It's possible that this was the reason why he was able to save her in the first place. She doesn't want to jump to any conclusions, but she has a hunch that it might have transpired in that way. She doesn't want to rule out any possibility, though.
As soon as Freida realized that the light at the intersection had turned red, she assisted the blind man in making his way across the street. "I am used to crossing the roads alone, but I still want to thank you for giving me a hand. These days, very few people are in a position to be able to afford giving up some of their time to assist others. Oh well, humans." The blind man made a comment that, for some reason, gave Freida the creeps. She simply chose to disregard it and carry on with her desire to assist the blind man up until the point where they were able to cross the street.
And as they reached the other end, which was exactly in time as the green light went on, the blind man then extended his free hand after Freida released his elbow from her assistance.
"Thank you again, miss." The blind man said while extending his hand in the direction of Freida.
Freida decided that simply accepting it wouldn't be asking too much of her, so she took his hand. She suddenly felt the callouses as their hands clasp together and saw a slight arch from the side of his upper lips. As their hands came together, she was startled to feel the calluses on his palms, and she noticed a slight arch forming on the side of his upper lips.
Freida maintained her composure, or at least made an effort to do so, as the blind man shook hands with her. However, it wasn't until after the handshake that the blind man spoke to her and said, "Fascinating. I had almost given up hope that I would ever have this moment."
"Excuse me?" Freida questioned. She was beginning to become a little conscious about her situation, and she could feel a bit of her anxiety rising across her skin.
Surprisingly, the blind man leaned in close to her and whispered in a very low voice, "This hand, this certain feeble hand will become so strong that this world will become formidable against the enemies' lying underneath it."
Freida couldn't help but feel a lot more frantic because the man right in front of her might be some kind of lunatic, and at that very moment, she couldn't help but feel even more nervous of what he may do to her. It's possible that she's in a dangerous situation right now, especially considering that the man was still firmly gripping her hand and at the same time, holding onto the wooden stick that he can use against her in any way he sees fit.
Even though she tried, Freida couldn't stop herself from feeling a raging panic rising up from the depths of her being. She was just trying to collect herself because she knew that if she reacted, the crazed man standing in front of her would be even more agitated. At this very moment, Freida was holding out hope that she would soon discover the right moment to break free of the blind man's grasp and make her escape.
But, as Frieda was attempting to struggle in her own way so that she could be freed from the blind man's grip, the blind man eventually tightened his grip on Freida's hand as he continued to speak to her. He said, "This hand will become widely known, for it will become the key for the light to emerge from the darkness that shall consume both the living and the unseen." Frieda was unable to break free from the blind man's hold despite her best efforts.
"Excuse me, sir, but could you please release your grip on my hand? If you don't, I'll have no choice but to scream for help." This time, Freida demanded, and in order to demonstrate that she was not afraid of him, she tried to make her voice sound a lot more threatening. Bringing out her vulnerability could very well end up being a weapon that the blind man can use against her.
Frieda was eventually freed by the blind man, at which point she attended to her swollen wrist and then retreated a few paces. The blind man was then hit with a forceful warning from Freida.
She then told him, "I don't know who you are, sir, but just stay where you are, and don't follow me or I'll call for the police to arrest you for harassment."
"Of course, of course, it goes without saying. I don't want to cause you any trouble, but I just don't know about them."
"Wait a second. What do you mean about them?"
But instead of answering, the blind man, however, tilted his head upward as if he were looking at the sun before he uttered, "The days of peace are at their nearing peak, make the most of it."
The blind man, waving his left hand, walked away from Freida and in the opposite direction. Freida was left stranded in her position, and she stood there motionless. She was unable to shake the idea from her mind no matter how hard she tried. She felt shivers run through the nerves around her body with every word that that man spoke to her.
She had the impression that everything in her environment had suddenly ceased moving for a brief moment. It appeared as though no one was moving, with the exception of the blind man who had been moving away from her location and leaving her behind. And then, as her vision became overly concentrated on the direction the blind man was heading, everything around her suddenly became engulfed in total darkness which caused her to feel even more frightened than she already had been.
Freida gave in to her weakness as a result of her anxiety, fear, and nervousness that she felt after meeting the blind man. This ultimately led to her losing her conscious state of mind as her eyes were compelled to close in a single instant.
WHEN SHE OPENED HER EYES ONCE MORE, she found her visions were adjusting to the bright incandescent light at the center of their nipa ceiling, which was illuminating the whole room. She soon became aware that she was lying on her wooden bed inside their nipa house, where they were staying.
Freida had a sudden recollection of the fact that the last time she could recall, she was still in the city of Itum—which was a city that was located approximately half an hour away from the town of Biringan. She had a distinct recollection of passing out right there on the streets, so the fact that she was now lying in her bed was a mystery to her. She couldn't understand how she had gotten here.
Yet, regardless of how hard she tried to think carefully about how it occurred, she was unable to come up with any possible reason as to how she had been transported inside their house. She just couldn't figure out how she got there.
The only result of her moment of reflection was an abrupt growl emanating from her stomach. She had the urge to go downstairs and start preparing the meal, but it felt as though her entire body was holding her back. The scent of food that was being prepared in kitchen was what jolted her out of her bed the next moment and forced her to get up and move around.
Freida could already hear the noise, which she described as sounds coming the oil being heated in a pan, as she cautiously made her way downstairs. Because of this, she was immediately alerted to run quickly to their dirty kitchen, where she found her grandmother attempting to fry their meal.
"Grandmother, what are you doing?" Freida was startled to found that her grandmother was preparing food in their dirty kitchen.
"What you are exactly seeing, of course."
But Freida's response was met with sarcasm from her grandmother, which caused her to shake her head in disbelief.
Her grandmother was too old to do housework, but she was not completely bedridden to the point where she could not move at all. It was just that Freida does not want her grandmother to overwork herself. She was concerned that if her grandmother does this, she would become exhausted, and then the worst-case scenario could occur. It was something that Freida had always been afraid of, which was why she preferred to remain in the vicinity of Biringan for her internship rather than go outside, which was her only other choice. This was so she could still take care of her grandmother.
That's why, even though Freida's head was hurting, she still managed to grab the slotted turner from her grandmother and insisted that she would be running the kitchen from this point forward.
However, her grandmother was opposed to the idea and responded with a "No. No, you are not taking that from me, young woman!" After she had retrieved the slotted turner from Freida, she insisted on doing it her way. "You are still recovering from your fever. Why are you here in the first place?" her grandmother asked instead, fixing a querying look pinned on Freida's face.
Freida's grandmother turned her back on her. Freida, on the other hand, continued to ponder the mystery of why her grandmother would claim that she was recovering from a fever when in reality, she was perfectly healthy.
"But I am not sick, grandmother." Freida protested.
Her grandmother didn't waste a single second before she shot her back with a question, "What are you saying, young lady, that you are not sick? You were brought here yesterday by a man who noticed that you had a high fever. I was worried about you. Did you know that even the neighborhood faith healer was unable to determine the cause of your high fever or who was responsible for it? I was on the verge of taking you to the town health center if you still had a fever, but that man managed to heal you."
Freida couldn't help but wonder who exactly her grandmother was talking about when she mentioned this mysterious man. Her desire to satisfy her natural inquisitiveness led her to finally pose the question to her grandmother, "Grandmother, who was this man you were talking about who had helped me?"
After never having witnessed her grandmother smile before, Freida was perplexed when she saw her grandmother suddenly beamed one at her. Her grandmother has never been one to display a great deal of emotion, not until this very moment. But as soon as she noticed that her grandmother was pointing in the direction of the door, she immediately abandoned that train of thought.
"Oh, you mean, him." Her grandmother eventually said afterward.
When Frieda finally turned around to face the direction in which her grandmother was pointing, her entire body came to a complete stop as she saw the person to whom her grandmother was referring. Her eyes couldn't believe what they were seeing as the man who was standing at the front door was none other than the same blind man who had creeped her out in the streets of Itum.