Нил Шустерман: The Eyes Of Kid Midas

Kevin thrust his hand up through the wind, desperately trying to grasp something, as his mind took hold and he remembered where he was and what he was doing.

He was climbing a mountain.

With eyes wet and cold, Kevin reached out his right hand, and finally his fingertips touched the flat top of the Divine Watch.

"What's it like, Kevin?" Josh yelled over the wind.

"Do you see anything up there?" called Hal.

"Well, what's happening up there, Midas?" yelled Bertram. "We ain't got all day!"

There was something there! Kevin pulled himself up another inch until his head eclipsed the rising sun, and the object was trapped in his shadow.

"It's . . . it's a pair of glasses!" said Kevin.

As Kevin stretched out his arm toward the sunglasses, the wind screamed in his ears, and reality suddenly took hold.

What was he doing here? He could fall! He could die! What was he thinking! Panic screamed at him like a thousand voices in the wind, demanding he leave this dangerous place now and get back to the campsite this very instant.

He drew back his hand, leaving the glasses untouched and undisturbed.

"Let us get up there, Midas. Get out of the way!" demanded Bertram.

Kevin tried to make room for the others, but he moved too quickly and lost his balance.

Kevin fell onto Josh, who toppled onto Hal, who crashed into Bertram, and the foursome plunged down the rocky cliff, rolling over sharp rocks and over each other until they smashed against a hard plateau fifty feet below.

Everyone wound up with minor cuts and bruises except for Kevin. Kevin broke his leg.

"It'll be okay," said Bertram. "I'll go get help," Bertram turned to go, but before he did, he punched Hal in the arm. "This is your fault," he said.

Hal ran off to search for branches to help make a splint, and Josh sat beside Kevin, propping him up and helping him bear the pain.

The break was bad. Kevin had always imagined that if he broke his leg, he would die from the pain, but he didn't.

"Does it hurt real bad?" Josh asked Kevin.

"Real bad," answered Kevin. "But not real, real bad."

"Youll be fine, Kevin, don't worry," said Josh.

The sun was higher now, filling the valley with a warm glow. The light hit Kevin's face, and he relaxed just enough for the pain to drop a notch.

There was something gnawing at Kevin's mind—as if there was something he ought to remember, but it was slipping away. All that remained was a certainty that he would be okay—that Bertram would bring help, that his leg would heal, and that the world would go on. Even something as unpredictable as falling and breaking his leg did have a very predictable outcome—and that simple thought comforted his piercing pain. On its worst days, the world still made some sort of sense, and that was a good thing.

"Look, Josh," said Kevin, peering down at the spectacular view in the valley before them. "Way down there—I can see cars at that picture spot we stopped at. The people look like ants!"

"How can you see that?" asked Josh. "You're blind as a bat without your glasses."

Glasses? thought Kevin. Do I wear glasses? He was baffled for a moment, but the moment passed. "I have twenty-twenty vision—you know that, Josh," said Kevin. "I don't wear glasses."

"That's right," said Josh, scratching his head. "That's funny . . . I wonder why I thought you did...."

Beneath them, the morning unfolded on the valley in glowing shades of green and gold. A lazy smile stretched across Kevin's face.

"Kevin," asked Josh, beginning to worry, "you okay?"

"Never better," said Kevin, and he laughed, because he knew it was true.

Josh tried to hold back a smile but couldn't. "You're crazy, Kevin," said Josh. "Certifiable." But they both laughed long and loud until their voices rang out across the valley, echoing from here till doomsday.