Read Persistence of Vision for Free Online Page A

instance, if someone who sees and hears wants to join us. No one has, so far, but I guess it could happen. My guess is that they wouldn't accept it. They're very independent and jealous of their freedom, though you might not have noticed it. I don't think you could ever be one of them. But as long as you're willing to think of yourself as a guest, you could probably stay for twenty years."
    "You said 'they.' Don't you include yourself in the group?"
    For the first time she looked a little uneasy. I wish I had been better at reading body language at the time. I think my hands could have told me volumes about what she was thinking.
    "Sure," she said. "The children are part of the group. We like it. I sure wouldn't want to be anywhere else, from what I know of the outside."
    "I don't blame you." There were things left unsaid here, but I didn't know enough to ask the right questions. "But it's never a problem, being able to see when none of your parents can?
    They don't . . . resent you in any way?"
    This time she laughed. "Oh, no. Never that. They're much too independent for that. You've seen it. They don't need us for anything they can't do themselves. We're part of the family. We do exactly the same things they do. And it really doesn't matter. Sight, I mean. Hearing, either.
    Just look around you. Do I have any special advantages because I can see where I'm going?"
    I had to admit that she didn't. But there was still the hint of something she wasn't saying to me.
    "I know what's bothering you. About staying here." She had to draw me back to my original question; I had been wandering.
    "What's that?"
    "You don't feel a part of the daily life. You're not doing your share of the chores.
    You're very conscientious and you want to do your part. I can tell."
    She read me right, as usual, and I admitted it.
    "And you won't be able to until you can talk to everybody. So let's get back to your lessons.
    Your fingers are still very
    Sloppy."
    file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20Persistence%20Of%20Vision.txt (12 of 24) Page 15

    [2/17/2004 11:43:30 AM]
    file:///G|/rah/John%20Varley%20-%20Persistence%20Of%20Vision.txt There was a lot of work to be done. The first thing I had to learn was to slow down. They were slow and methodical workers, made few mistakes, and didn't care if a job took all day so long as it was done well. When I was working by myself I didn't have to worry about it: sweeping, picking apples, weeding in the gardens. But when I was on a job that required teamwork I had to learn a whole new pace. Eyesight enables a person to do many aspects of a job at once with a few quick glances. A blind person will take each aspect of the job in turn if the job is spread out.
    Everything has to be verified by touch. At a bench job, though, they could be much faster than I.
    They could make me feel as though I was working with my toes instead of fingers.
    I never suggested that I could make anything quicker by virtue of my sight or hearing.
    They quite rightly would have told me to mind my own business. Accepting sighted help was the first step to dependence, and after all, they would still be here with the same jobs to do after I was gone.
    And that got me to thinking about the children again. I began to be positive that there was an undercurrent of resentment, maybe unconscious, between the parents and children. It was obvious that there was a great deal of love between them, but how could the children fail to resent the rejection of their talent? So my reasoning went, anyway.
    I quickly fit myself into the routine. I was treated no better or worse than anyone else, which gratified me. Though I would never become part of the group, even if I should desire it, there was absolutely no indication that I was anything but a full member. That's just how they treated guests: as they would one of their own number.
    Life was fulfilling out there in a way ii has never been in the cities. It wasn't unique to Keller, this pastoral peace, but the