Blindsided
A simple bite, that's all it took to turn a life of fame and luxury to a life of fear and uncertainty.
Just a week ago you couldn't go through a person's movie collections without seeing Ron Janis's name on at least five of the cases. The media loved him, producers and directors adored him and fans worshiped the ground that he walked on. Needless to say, Ron Janis was the most well known actor the country had seen in generations.
Ron's family, as far as he was concerned, consisted of him and his beautiful wife Clara. Their marriage was nothing more than a high publicity act. Before the marriage, Ron was with a different girl every month. His agent suggested that he get married to seem like he had better values for his older audience. He and Clara met a few times and agreed on the marriage. Ron really like Clara, but it didn't stop him from having a couple of affairs with random individuals.
Ron Janis was on his way to have the highest number of Movie Awards in history and his next summer blockbuster was seen as a shoe-in for 'Best Picture.' It was scripted as a man trapped in the African wilderness in search of a rare diamond while avoiding its local tribes. Ron Janis got the main part with ease.
Even though Ron seemed like a wild fox, he took acting very seriously. Before each role, no matter what it was, he did extensive research. In this case he decided to go with a small group of people to see what the tribes of different parts of Africa behaved and see how the African wilderness was actually like.
On just the third day of his trip, he was out by one of the rivers with a couple of companions and some locals when a pinch on his face made him wince a little. At first, he assumed it was a mosquito and he wished he put on some bug spray, but the pinch became a little more irritated.
Ron couldn't handle the pain for much longer. He felt his face swell up and he fell to his knees groaning. His eyes were forced shut as he heard the scared voices of the locals and of the guys he was with.
They were too far away from any proper medical treatment so he had to go without medical treatment for an entire day. When he was in the hands of professionals, Ron still could not see but what he heard from the doctors was unsettling.
"This isn't some sort of allergic reaction"
"Then what is it? He's got a small bite mark oh his face"
"Wait, he was by a river, do you think...?"
"I hope not, we need to check immediately, it might be too late."
"Mr. Janis," one of the doctors said, a ferret he presumed from the squeak in his voice, "we are going to run a few tests, we're going to give you some anesthetics, just relax and we'll let you know what's going on when you wake up."
This didn't relax Ron at all, but before he could think of anything else, he suddenly felt heavy. He didn't sleep well; he dreamed that he was on a farm, feeding pigs. He felt alone, naked, and hungry. He looked at the pigs' meal with envy before he started to eat it himself.
Noises coming from different individuals freed him from his nightmare. They spoke quickly with a worried tone to it. Ron tried to open his eyes, but couldn't seem to because he saw no light. He tried again, his eyelids were definitely moving, but he still could not see. The noises stopped.
"Mr. Janis, I am Dr. Benson," it was not the same voice when he went to sleep, this one more stern, and came from a female, "how are you feeling?"
"Why can't I open my eyes?" Ron asked.
A pause from the doctor didn't help, "Mr. Janis, while you were in the wilderness, you were bitten by what is known as the black fly. It's a fly that carries the parasite Onchocerca volvulus. The parasite was injected into you and it caused the swelling of your face. While we have the parasite under control, it can sometimes leave side effects like tissue-like skin and, in your case, blindness."
Ron's breathing stopped that final word went through Ron's soul like a daggar, "No, I can't be blind, I just need to open my eyes once the swelling goes."
"Mr. Janis, your eyes are open right now," The doctor said with a hint of sadness, "there is no swelling."
So that was it, Ron Janis went from a mighty fortress to rubble in a matter of hours. The next few hours, or at least that's how much time he thought past, were filled by his agent saying how sorry he was and a bunch of other pity words. He ended the talk by saying that he probably will never act again. This was the worst day of his life.
After his agent and a few reporters talked to him and left, he put his paws to his head and sat in disbelief. A few claw clicks on the floor broke him from his thoughts; Ron sniffed the air and smelled, as far as he knew, a very expensive perfume.
"Clara?" Ron asked, this was the happiest he had ever been to be near her, even more than on their wedding day.
The steps stopped and Ron reached out for her, but felt nothing. "Please Clara, I need to touch your fur."
A couple of slow clicks later and the warmth of her arm greeted Ron's paws. "Oh Clara, I don't know what's going to happen. I can't act anymore, we need to figure out where to go from here."
"We?" came Clara's voice, almost in disbelief. "Oh Ron, there is no 'we'. You can't take care of me anymore, I'm not going to be with some rundown blind fox for the rest of my life."
"Please Clara, you're all I have."
Clara let out a loud sarcastic laugh. "Are you kidding me? If you really cared about me, you wouldn't have gone on all of the sabbaticals with all those young women. Yes, I've known for a long time. But I'm not mad; I've had plenty of men come over while you were away. I've come here to tell you that we're divorcing and to say goodbye. So, goodbye Ron and good luck with the rest of your life."
And with that, everyone he knew was gone.
Ron brought his knees up to his chest and hugged them as he cried for the first time since he was a child.
The next morning, he was cleared to go, they gave him a walking stick and provided him with a temporary aid to help him out. The aid's name was Roger, a wolf just out of college and was very friendly. It was probably because Ron was famous, but Ron liked to think it was cause he was always nice.
"Anywhere you'd like to go?" the wolf asked in his upbeat manner.
"Yes," Ron had been thinking about it all night. "Take me to the airport."
Roger got a taxi and we went through the streets of Los Angeles. Ron told him how he wished he could see the city in its glory under the sun and Roger mentioned that it was in fact very cloudy outside. Ron thought this was funny.
They arrived at the airport with no luggage, and went to get tickets.
"Where to?" Roger asked as they waited in line.
"Virginia."
"That's about as far as you can get from here still in the States," Roger chuckled, Ron loved the kid's enthusiasm, it put Ron at ease, "and I presume it's round trip?"
"No," Ron answered, "just one way."
Roger paid the ticket with Ron's credit card, first class of course, and Roger was allowed to assist Ron through airport security all the way until the entrance to the plane. They exchanged a hug and Ron thanked Roger for his kindness and got on the plane with the assistance of an employee.
The butterflies in Roger's stomach grew as the flight went on. As the plane landed, Ron realized that he had not planned a way to get where he needed to be. That problem was solved when as the employee, vixen by her scent, helped Ron off the plane and said that she was taking him to his driver.
Apparently, Roger planned the driver and must've forgotten to tell him, but it didn't matter. As Ron climbed into the car, gave the driver the address that he still knew by heart and sat back for the roughly two hour trip.
The driver, a raccoon, he said in his dull voice, talked about his life and his family for a while and Ron listened. He didn't want to say who he was but felt like he had to when the raccoon asked about his life. The driver's voice got really nervous and excited when Ron said whom he was.
"They've been talkin' about cha on the news, said you were in Africa when you became blind and weren't sure what you were gonna do. What are ya gonna do?"
Ron took a deep breath as the butterflies in his stomach came back, "Going to the place I never should have left. I'm going home."
The raccoon gave an understanding "uh huh" and said nothing more about it. Ron sat back in his seat and waited to arrive as he hoped he wasn't making a big mistake.
Even being away all these years couldn't keep Ron from forgetting the place where he grew up. Twelve years since he smelled the country air, twelve years since he lived a simple life, twelve years since he was home. The dull voiced taxi driver came around to open the door and helped Ron out of the vehicle. Ron stood on the asphalt that was, what he presumed was the driveway.
"Must've gotten tired of the gravel" Ron said to himself as he straightened out his walking stick and tapped it to the ground.
The dull voiced man took Ron's arm with his paw and led him. The asphalt beneath his hind paws turned into a cobblestone walkway. It was the same as he remembered. The two walked until the raccoon slowed down and turn at, as Ron remembered, the stairs to the porch and front door were. They stopped and Ron reached into his wallet and grabbed a few bills and handed it to raccoon.
"Thank you" Ron said, "I can take it from here."
"But sir," the raccoon piped up in a little more high pitched voice, "this is much more than you owe me."
"Take it, it's fine." Ron said with a smile, "I don't need it."
Ron felt the bills leave his paw and surprisingly good feeling came out of it.
"Th-thank you sir" the raccoon said.
Ron heard pawsteps going away and then heard the engine start up and move away. Ron brought up a paw to wave, he had no idea if he was facing the car, but a couple of honks assured him that the taxi driver got the message.
Turning around, Ron put his paw on the side railing and began his walk up the wooden stairs. He counted them as he ascended, "one...two...three...four...five..." As Ron lifted his hind paw for the top of the stairs, it got caught beneath a bit of wood jutting out further from the stair than any of the other steps. He couldn't keep his balance as he tipped forward and gravity sent him face first onto the floor of the front porch. With a thump, Ron's nose came in contact with the wood. The porch was an odd colored green that Ron hated when he was last here, he didn't know if it had changed color or not, he hoped not. Ron lay there for a second as his body ached, but then the fox was overtaken by laughter. It was something that Ron never seemed to prevent. Even as a kid Ron would constantly trip over that stair. After all these years, he still tripped over it. The whole thing seemed funny to him.
Ron's laughs ceased when he heard the front door open and a gasp. He couldn't recognize the source of the gasp as he got on his knees and brushed his shirt. Paws grabbed Ron's arms and pulled him up to a standing position.
"Ron? Is it really you?" after all this time, Ron knew who the voice belonged to. It was his older brother of a year.
"Tyler? I-I can't believe it's you"
"I should say the same thing. You alright? I heard the thump from inside."
"I'm fine. It's so good to hear your voice, is Mom home?"
"Yeah, let me get her," Tyler's pawsteps thumped as he ran into the house. Ron could hear his brother's excited shouts! "Mom...it's Ron...he's home...he's outside the front door!"
Ron's heart started racing as he heard more than one set of paws get louder, he longed to see his mother, to feel her warm embrace. He knew the former was not possible, but to just be held by his mother would be enough for him.
The creaks from the hinges on the front door made Ron's racing heart suddenly seemed to stop. There was a loud silence in the air.
"Mom?" Ron broke the silence, "I'm so sorry for leaving. I understand if you don't want to see me again. This whole experience made me realize who stupid I was. I...I wanna come home." Ron started to tear up. The tears barely left his eyes when a warm embrace surrounded him.
"The day you left," the weak voice of his mother said, "was the saddest day of my life even more than when your father passed and I've waited for you to return ever since. Now that day has finally come and I'm so happy to hold you again."
Ron started to choke up as he returned the embrace, "you mean you don't care that I abandoned you for so long? After all of this, you still welcome me with open arms?"
"Of course honey," she said in a sweet voice that tore at Ron's heart, "I've never stopped loving you."
Ron buried his head in his mother's shoulder and cried. After all this time, after all that he had done, those who really matter loved him. It was a love that no fan base, no amount of money, and no woman had ever given him. This was true love.
After what seemed like hours of standing there, Ron and his mother lightened their grip a little. "I've got dinner cooking in the kitchen. Come on inside, you want something to eay."
Ron smiled, "Are you kidding? I'd give my left eye for one." A choked laugh came from his mother who gave him a reassuring squeeze.
His brother took a hold of his arm and led him through the front door into his mother's house. His home.