Don't Tell Them You Can See

Three months ago, I lost my sight due to a car accident. To take better care of me, my family moved to the outskirts far from the city. Just last night, miraculously, I regained my vision. I was about to share the good news with my parents when I discovered a crumpled tissue under my bed. Being a neat freak, I picked it up, but the message on it puzzled me: "Don't tell them you can see." The handwriting was hurried, and it was clear the "they" referred to my parents. I had no idea who could have left this tissue under my bed. Only my parents and my husband, Yan, had been in my room over the past three months. Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Momo, Mom made some chicken soup for you," my mother's gentle voice sounded from behind the door. I casually threw the tissue in the trash. But when I opened the door, my pupils contracted sharply. I saw a stranger holding a bowl, smiling brightly at me. Her lips were painted bright red, and her smile seemed strangely unsettling. This was definitely not my mother! I stepped back in horror, staring at her. My mother had a kind face, but this woman looked sharp, with no resemblance to my mother at all. But what was most peculiar was that her voice was identical to my mother's. Just as I was about to question her, I remembered the message on the tissue: "Don't be discovered, I can see." "Momo, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" the woman approached me with concern. "Mom, just leave the souphere, I'll eat it later," I said slowly, feeling my way to sit on the bed. "Momo, it's hot. How about I feed you?" the woman suggested. I immediately refused her, "Mom, I'm a bit sleepy, I'll eat it when it cools down." The woman nodded without saying anything and left. As she closed the door, I breathed a sigh of relief. My back was drenched in cold sweat. Where had my real mother gone? And who was this woman? I was worried about my mother, so I opened the door and walked out. It was my first time seeing where I lived. A spacious two-storey villa. I stood on the second floor and saw a man sitting on the sofa in the living room, reading a newspaper with his back to me. He must be my father. I looked around and, after confirming that the woman was not in the living room, I lowered my voice and called out, "Dad!" The man turned his head, and I saw his face. In that moment, fear gripped my entire body. Because what I saw was not the familiar face of my father, but a completely unfamiliar one. "Momo, what's wrong?" But from that man's mouth came the voice of my father. I forced a smile, "Nothing, Dad." The woman's head peeked out from the room beside me, her bright red lips stretched into an exaggerated smile. "Momo, didn't you say you wanted to take a nap?"