All throughout Tao’s five-year existence, there were only four senses. With his nose, he could appreciate a rose’s scent. With his tongue, he could taste his favourite gummy candies. With his ears, he could hear the chirping music of the birds. With his skin, he knew the texture of his teddy bear and the feel of the cold downpour.  And with his eyes, there was only darkness.  

Everywhere he looked, shadows crept and no light went in. What does his father and mother looked like? Does his father looked handsome the way his voice sounded like? Does his mother’s face looked sweet just like her gentle touch?

Blind.

A word that had longed described Tao. Relying through his other senses, little Tao was curious of the things he smelled, the things he tasted, the things he heard, and the things he felt. What do they all looked like?

With his absentee parents, his questions were rarely answered. If they did, little Tao wasn’t satisfied. His curiosity grew as each day passed. Sometimes he would cry at night feeling pathetic and a fool.

 But one day, all of that changed when his parents gave him a Labrador retriever named ‘Yifan.’

***

Yifan felt soft to his touch, smelled like powder to his nose, tasted funny whenever Yifan lapped his face, and his barks sounded heavenly to his ears. Through Yifan, he could navigate his surroundings with ease. Holding the Labrador’s lease, little Tao’s knees would not hit the furniture again. Through Yifan’s barks, little Tao knew that his parents were home. And whenever he heard a strange cry, laughter, or strange voices near him, Yifan would hiss a bark. Whenever he heard scratches under his bed at night, little Tao knew that Yifan was there beside him. Through Yifan’s eyes, little Tao could see the world.

One day, the little boy was told that he could see again. Finally becoming at ease in the darkness of his surroundings, little Tao could not help but feel anxious the day they did the operation. If he will finally be able to see all of the things only his four senses provided, would he be fulfilled? Will his curiosity finally be answered?  

***

The change was too abrupt, it made him dizzy. Finally opening his eyes for the very first time, little Tao saw the world through a different view. Finally he saw what his parents looked like. His father looked tall and broad, while his mother with her round eyes drenched with grateful tears looked beautiful the way little Tao imagined her to be.

He inspected his room, there beside him was his teddy bear, in the windowpane, he finally discovered that the sun was a glowing orb, and finally he discovered that Yifan was not there in the room.

His parents looked away when he asked them. Another set of questions finally had them told him the truth – that Yifan had already passed away.

The awful truth was so knifing, it stilled his heart for a second. The day he finally gai