Brooke's Destiny
Written by Holly Custer
Copyright © 1999
 

Brooke ran down the sidewalk just knowing the people from the Home For The Blind would be after her. She turned off the walk into Easter Park. She ran until she fell and rolled down a small incline that her poor eyesight had not seen in the darkness of the night. She lay still for a moment breathing hard.

Slowly, she got to her knees. She had to find her glasses or she could see next to nothing. She sighed in relief when she found them unbroken. She started walking fast with her hands out in front of her. She walked until she saw what might be a cave in the side of the hill. It looked to be the perfect place to hide. She walked even more carefully when she got inside.

Soon, she lost all sense of direction. She felt her way to the wall and slid down to sit on the dirt-covered floor. Her blue-jeaned knees were pulled up to her chin and her arms were clasped around her knees.

Brandon Jones was on his way home when he saw a small hunched figure against the wall. She looked terrified.

"W-who's there?" Brooke whispered hearing the muffled thud of boots.

"My name is Brandon Jones. I want to help you. Are you lost? Can I help you get home?" He asked compassionately. Brooke jerked at his words. She didn't want to go home. It was terrible there!

"No! I won't go home! You can't make me!" Brooke cried hysterically. She struggled to her feet and pressed her back against the wall.

"It's all right. I won't take you back if you don't want to go. Let me help you." Brandon took a step forward. Brooke took a step back. She found her self caught in a corner. She started to cry. Brandon stepped up and took her gently into his arms. He held her until the tears subsided.

"Will you let me take you to my family?" He stepped back and looked down into her face. He saw that she had thick, red hair and beautiful, green eyes behind the thick glasses. "What is your name?"

"I'm Brooke Daniels. I got lost in the cave. I don't see very well." Brandon held out his hand to her. Brooke was just able to see it. She reached out her hand. Everything seemed so much darker. With a muffled sob, she dropped her hand.

"What is it, Brooke? What's wrong?"

"I-I'm scared. It seems to get darker by the minute. These don't help anymore." Frustrated, Brooke jerked off the glasses and threw them to the floor. She turned away and covered her face as she wept. Silently, Brandon picked up the discarded glasses and placed them in his pocket.

He took Brooke by the arm and led her through the cave. After a few minutes walk, they came out the other side. There stood a large, white house. It almost looked like a mansion. All Brooke could really see was a big, white blob.

He took her inside and led her upstairs to a guestroom. He sent a maid to get his father. He turned on a table lamp and turned back to Brooke. He placed his hands gently on her shoulders.

"Brooke, I'm going to go get you something to eat. I will be back in just a few minutes. You're safe here. All right?"

"Please, don't leave me alone." Brooke pleaded her slender hand clutching at his sleeve desperately.

"It's OK, hon. You need something to eat." Brandon answered gently, but firmly. After he had left the room, Brooke tried to look around. She vaguely saw a bed to the left of her and suddenly realized how tired she was. The whole day had been one terrible strain after another.

Hoping nothing was between her and the bed, Brooke stood and walked to it. She lay down and found it remarkably comfortable. She was soon sound asleep.

Several hours later, Brooke awoke from a deep sleep. She snuggled down in the warmth of the covers. Someone must have come in and covered her with the blankets. Slowly, she opened her eyes. It was completely dark. Brooke turned her head to see if the lamp on the table was still lit. There was nothing there! She lay paralyzed as the realization of these thoughts registered in her mind. All of a sudden, she found the ability to move. She bolted upright as an anguished cry of fear and despair broke from her throat. She jumped off the bed entangling her legs in the blankets. She fell to her hands and knees. She struggled to her feet as the sobs wracked her slender body. She staggered across the room towards the door. She hoped. She tripped over------something. A strong, gentle hand came out of the darkness and caught her before she fell.

"I can't see! I can't see!" Brooke sobbed gripping Brandon's cloak for security. With tender ease, Brandon picked her up in his arms and set down on the bed with her still in his arms.

"Amanda, go get Father. Tell him to come quickly." He said with concern in his voice as he looked up at his sister. "Although, I don't think any thing can be done to help her."

Several days after Brooke lost her sight completely, Brandon took her for a walk in the caves. Brooke clung tightly to his arm insure of everything that was around her. She had not become used to the darkness yet.

Brandon took Brooke to see one of the awesome sights in the caves. It was the waterfalls. He wanted her to hear the water splashing down into the pool and feel the spray that came up with it. He wanted her to learn that hearing could be as wonderful as seeing. For a long time, Brooke sat listening to the crashing of the falls with Brandon next to her. Abruptly, she turned to Brandon. He had been so kind to her and he had been her strength since he had found her lost in the caves.

"Brandon, can I see you? I want to know who you are." She asked hesitantly. As she reached up, Brandon clasped her hand to his chest. before she could touch his face. "Is there something wrong?"

"I need to tell you something before I let you touch me. My face is disfigured. I was kicked by a horse when I was five. The hoof caught me on the cheek bone and shattered it. There's a scar left." Brandon watched Brooke's face as he told his story. He didn't see the pity or revulsion he was used to seeing from people. Without hesitation, Brooke reached up and touched his face with gentle, loving fingers.

"I've heard that doctors can do amazing things nowadays, Brandon." Brooke murmured as her fingers traced the curved, white scar. Her hand moved from his face to the back of his neck. She pulled his head down to hers and pressed her lips to his in a soft kiss. After a moment's hesitation, Brandon slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close as he deepened the kiss. Brandon suddenly pulled away. Brooke heard him stand up and walk a few steps away from her. "I'm sorry if I overstepped my bounds. I'm falling in love with you, Brand."

"It's not you, sweetheart. It's me. I'm ugly. We've tried the doctors and they won't help. Sometimes, I have a hard time accepting what happened to me even though I've had this scar most of my life." Brandon paused. He turned to face Brooke. "You are so beautiful, Brooke. What do you want with someone like me?"

"To me, you are the most beautiful person I've ever met. It's not what's on the outside that counts, my love. It's what's on the inside. What I see in you is kindness, gentleness, compassion, strength and love. You care about the people around you. I want to be with you always, Brandon." Brooke paused, then looked up with tears in her beautiful, green eyes. "If you can't accept who you are, then we can never be anything to each other."

He came back and sat down next to her. Slowly, his shoulders hunched over and he started to weep. Brooke took him in her arms and held him close to her heart.

That afternoon, Brandon came and escorted her to dinner. Before they reached the dining hall, he turned and placed his hands on her slender shoulders. Brooke reached up and touched his face.

"Brook, I want you to go back to the Home For The Blind." Brooke jerked away from him not believing the words he was saying to her.

"No! I won't go back. I won't ever go back there!" Her breathing became harsh and she backed away from this man she loved. She couldn't understand why he would do this to her.

"I'm sorry, but I must insist. It is the best for you. You don't belong here with me, Brooke. I can't give you the social life you deserve. I spend all of my time in this house and the caves. The servants go to the village for me." Brandon said. His heart was breaking as he watched her cry and shake her head.

"Fine! I'll leave, but you drag me back to that------that home! besides, whose fault is it anyways, that you lock yourself up in this house? This is what I was talking about earlier." Brooke stunned him with her harsh, but true, words.

The next morning, Brandon found Brooke's room empty of all her belongings. He searched for her everywhere, but there was no sign of her. That is, until he spoke to his sister. "Amanda, I think you know where she is. Spill it now." Brandon stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest and his legs planted apart.

"She's with a friend of mine. She'll be safe------from you and that so-called Home For The Blind. I can't believe you wanted her to go back there. I had a police friend check up on that place. It's a horrible place! No one should ever be subjected to that kind of abuse." Amanda shuddered at what she had learned. "Brandon, they have no heat, a community sleeping area with no beds and very little food. That goes beyond the fact that the place is filthy. The people who run that place don't care about the blind people they are supposed to care for. How could you want to send her back? She loves you for God's sake! You need to think about how you treated her." Amanda stated firmly. She turned and walked away leaving Brandon standing shaken and horrified at what she had told him. These were the words that made him think and think hard.

Brooke was pleased that Amanda had a friend who was so willing to take in a blind girl she didn't even know. The room she was given was small, but comfortable. It was also clean and neat.

"Is there anything else you need, Miss Brooke?" Her hostess asked.

"No, everything is just wonderful, Emma. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome. Good-night."

"Good-night."

Back at the big, white house, Brandon paced his room. Back and forth. Back and forth. Finally, after several days of great and intense thinking. He decided that he needed and wanted Brooke with him for always. He loved her and couldn't live without her. Now he had to get Amanda to tell him where she was.

Eventually, Amanda told Brandon where Brooke was staying. She was reluctant, but she saw that Brandon's attitude and heart had changed.

Sometime after she had gone to bed, Brooke was awakened by a loud pounding on her door. She didn't dare move or breathe. She was scared.

"Brooke! It's Brandon! Open the door."

"I don't want you here! Go away!" Brooke cried out choking on the words, but forcing them out, somehow.

"Brooke, listen to me. I love you. I want us to be together. I've realized that it's what is inside that matters to those who matter. Anybody other than that, it doesn't matter what they think." He paused. "Marry me, Brooke."

Within a few seconds, the door slowly opened. Brooke stood there in a long robe that showed some wear. Her hair was tousled and her blind eyes were sleepy. Brandon thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Brooke stepped aside and let Brandon into her apartment. Brandon looked steadily at her for a long moment, then he started to pace the small room. Brooke stood quietly listening to the dull thud of his boots as he walked.

"Brooke, I want to apologize for the other afternoon. I don't want you to go back to that place. I want you with me forever. I love you. Please come back with me I've missed you these last few days." Brooke heard him stop in front of her. "I want you to marry me. I love you with my whole heart." Brandon said catching her hand and lifting it to his lips. Brooke felt a shiver as his lips caressed her soft skin.

"Are you sure, Brandon?" She whispered her hand finding his cheek.

"I couldn't be more sure about anything. I love you and have accepted me for who I am, Brandon Vincent Jones.

"Yes, Brandon, I'll marry you." Brooke answered her sightless eyes shining with unshed tears.

Brandon pulled Brooke into his arms and kissed her passionately. They stood for a long time just holding each other. "Let\'92s go home, sweetheart." Brandon whispered looking down into her sweet face.

"I would love to go home." She whispered back. They packed up her few belongings and went back to Brandon's family home. The next day they started the preparations for a wedding. It was decided that the wedding would take place in the old church in the village. Amanda helped Brooke pick out a beautiful wedding dress. The gown was white satin. It was off-the-shoulder with long sleeves. The skirt was full and floor-length. A small train followed. Brooke chose to wear a wreath of white rosebuds on her red hair. She would carry a bouquet of white rosebuds.

It was Christmas Eve that Brandon and Brooke chose to get married. The evening was clear and crisp. The stars shone brightly as Brooke entered the church on Brandon's father's arm to meet her groom. Amanda walked down the aisle as bridesmaid in a dark, forest-green tea-length gown. Brooke waited for the Wedding March to start.

Finally, Brooke and her future father-in-law started down the aisle. Brandon was stunned by the radiance he saw in Brooke's face. She had never looked more beautiful. At the altar, Brett Jones, Brandon's father, placed Brooke's hand in Brandon's. Brooke smiled when Brandon clasped her hand gently. They both turned to the minister in front of them.

The minister reverently guided them through their marriage vows. Vows they took seriously. When they had spoken them, they both had tears in their eyes.

"You may kiss your bride." The minister said smiling at Brandon.

Brandon turned to Brooke and put his arms around her. He looked into her face and whispered. "I love you, Brooke Jones."

"I love you, my husband." Brooke whispered back. Brooke couldn't have been any happier than at that moment as they kissed. She had met her destiny in Brandon.

THE END