Blinded

Peter Foster, anesthetized,  was being wheeled into operating room A of the Northwest Eye Research center in Boise Idaho. Blinded at thirteen, Peter and his family had been told that there was no cure for his injury. But now, ten years later, a new experimental surgery offered hope.

Peter had committed one of the mortal sins that all parents had warned their kids not to do. On a dare from one of his friends, he had stared at the sun and lost his sight.

The boy’s had bet an Icee, their favorite frozen drink, that each could stare at the blazing orb longer than the other. The loser had to buy the Icees. The problems with this challenge were many, not the least of which was that Peter’s friend had no intention of staring at the sun, and Peter, always intending on winning any bet or dare the two had made, was going to stare as long as he could. Though it is practically impossible to stare at the sun longer than a second or two, Peter’s effort had caused him to go blind. What neither of the contenders knew at the time of their very unwise decision, was that going blind was only a minor result of this event for Peter Foster.