Chapter 1

It had been almost three years since the accident and Carol had been pretty much been housebound since the truck driver had taken away her sight and her former life.

She remembered what it was like before the accident. She’d had a good job as a commercial loan officer with a local bank and had a promising career there. She made good money and worked with a great bunch of people. She also had a fairly active social life. Carol was a pretty popular girl, outgoing and flirtatious with both the boys and the girls and she had a big social circle.

And while she wasn’t firmly attached to anyone in particular, she did have a couple of very interested suitors who she thought might someday want to take the next step. Yeah, it was a pretty good life and she was very happy. That is, until that fateful day when she just happened to cross paths with the man who would change her whole world.

Now she had no job and no social life. Her small one-bedroom apartment was her world. The only time she left it was when she needed to buy groceries ... and that was just a walk down one flight of stairs and to the left of her apartment building one block, to the small local “mom and pop” convenience store. The owners, a nice Italian couple, knew her well and they were always very kind and helpful.

Her best girlfriend, Anna, came by to see her at least once a week to check on her and see if she needed anything. Anna and Carol had been close friends for many years since Anna had moved to Bismarck. They were the best of friends long before the accident, and she stayed with Carol almost constantly while she was in the hospital recovering.

Anna was there when the doctor had given Carol the news about her eyesight, and Anna was the one who pulled her out of the resulting deep depression. Since then, she had been coming by regularly and Carol always looked forward to her visit.

Anna was practically the only visitor she had, except for the people from the disability assistance program that stopped by every month to ask if there was anything they could do for her. Carol hated that visit because they would always seems so patronizing – telling her how she “should not let her blindness keep her from enjoying life.” Such nonchalant statements from people who had no idea what it was like to be blind just pissed Carol off to no end!

One day when Anna had come by for her regular visit, she approached Carol with an idea.

“Hey Carol, I was watching this program on television about Mexican resort cities like Puerto Vallarta and Acapulco. Some of those places look really nice! I was just thinking – how great would it be if we took a vacation to someplace warm like that? What do you say, want to go on an adventure?”

“Oh, I don’t know Anna ... I mean sightseeing isn’t much fun when you have no sight!”

“Aw, c’mon Carol! It’ll be fun! It will be good to get away from this cold ass place for awhile and get some sun! Don’t you get tired of always being cold?”

“Well yeah, I do get cold a lot. But what is there to do for someone like me? I can’t see the tropical sunsets or the places and sights.”

“Carol, you can still experience the warm sand, you can still smell the ocean, and taste the wonderful food can’t you? Just because you can’t see doesn’t mean you stop living, girl!”

“No, I suppose not,” Carol said, still unsure about the idea.

“Well then, let’s go!” Anna pressed.

“I’ll think about it, okay?” Carol said.

“Well, I have to put my vacation request in soon, so don’t take too long!” Anna said. The subject was dropped then and the girls went on with the visiting, talking about Anna’s work and all the latest gossip and family news.

A couple days later, Carol called her friend at work. “Hi Anna!”

“Hi Carol, what’s wrong?” Anna asked, surprised and concerned that Carol called her at work. She didn’t usually do that.

“Nothing’s wrong, hon. I just wanted to tell you I thought about that vacation idea of yours and if you still want to go, I’m up for it too,” Carol said.

“That’s wonderful! I’ll put my vacation request in today! Oh Carol, we’re going to have so much fun!” Anna said happily.

Three weeks later, their trip was fast approaching. The girls got together one Saturday afternoon for a day of shopping and primping in preparation for the trip.

“So what do you think of this one?” Carol said, as she tried on one of the swimsuits Anna picked out for her.

“Ooh, that’s pretty! And it makes you look hot too, Carol! I think that’s the one!” Anna said, clapping her hands in glee.

“Really? Okay then, if you think so.”

“Oh, I do. You have such a great figure Carol. I wish I was as stacked as you are!” Anna said. Anna tentatively reached out to lightly graze her fingertips across Carol’s ample tits. “You have such wonderful breasts honey,” Anna said softly.

Carol thrust out her chest a bit letting Anna know it was okay to touch. Carol loved to have her tits played with anyway and knowing it was her best friend made it even better. Carol let out a soft sigh as Anna traced the outline of her hardening nipples under the suit.

“We’d better go before we start making out right here in the dressing room,” Carol giggled.

“Would that be such a bad thing?” Anna said teasingly.

Carol reached up and brought Anna’s face close to her own. She kissed her girlfriend on the lips. “Now Anna, you know I love you, honey, and I’m not shy about being with a woman either – you know that about me too. But there are more comfortable places than a store dressing room if we want to get amorous!” Carol said.

“I know sweetie, I was just playing with you,” Anna said.

The girls finished their shopping with Anna buying a swimsuit as well and both of them getting some other essential things they would need for their trip. After shopping, the two girls went to a beauty salon to get a makeover.

Now normally a woman is all over a chance to get a makeover, with all the primping and fussing about. But this was the first time Anna had been able to convince Carol to get a makeover. And it took some doing too ... Carol was very self-conscience about the way she looked since her accident.

She knew that being blind, her eyes didn’t look or act the way normal sighted people’s eyes did. They didn’t track and follow people when they moved and she knew that fact made people uncomfortable. Carol always wore her darkest sunglasses whenever she was in public and so for her to now be sitting in a beauty salon where women go to look better and get all made up was a very big step for her.

Anna went first, just trying to make things go smoother and to show Carol that it would be all right. And the girls at the salon were very understanding with Carol’s misgivings. They made a special point in treating Carol’s disability as if it was nothing unusual. After the girls had gotten their hair done, they both decided to get manicures and pedicures. After their nails were done, Anna got bolder.

“I think I am going to get waxed. I want to look especially hot in that new swimsuit when we are at the pool! Maybe I’ll get lucky and find myself someone who can help me out of it!” Anna said. The two girls giggled at length at that remark.

After the salon the pair headed home, satisfied that the day was successful. Both of them looked stunning with their new hairdo’s and makeup and even Carol had to admit she had fun. She looked forward to taking this trip with her best friend – maybe a chance to get out of North Dakota is just what she needed after all. If nothing else it would be a chance to experience something new and different and going with Anna would make sure she stayed safe.

The following week was spent packing and making all the arrangements for the trip. Anna made sure her work was caught up, and she reminded her boss that she would be gone. Meanwhile Carol informed her disability assistance worker that she would be gone, as well as the neighbors who looked out for her.

She asked her neighbors to keep an eye on her apartment, which they said they would be happy to. So with all the arrangements set and the girls packed and ready to go, the day of their trip came at last.

Carol had been to the Bismarck airport a few times in the past, but this was the first time she had been there since losing her sight. She was more than a little bit anxious about traveling, but with Anna by her side, she felt a lot better about it. She would let Anna deal with the ticket agents and getting them to the proper gates at the right time.

She would just concentrate on not getting separated – that would be terrifying! They did get through the ticket counter and through the security gate with little trouble, and the girls even made it to their gate with a couple minutes to spare. As they sat at the gate waiting to board, one of the agents came up to speak with Carol.

“Excuse me miss, but would you like to pre-board? It might be easier for you both,” she said.

“That would be wonderful,” Anna said. And so, a couple of minutes before the regular boarding call, the agent came up and helped Carol and Anna board the plane and get settled in their seats. The agent also let the flight attendant know that Carol might need some extra help during the flight.

The flight from Bismarck to Los Angeles was smooth, although Carol got a bit nervous when the plane took off. But Anna’s relaxed attitude helped calm Carol down. After all, if Anna wasn’t worried about anything, she shouldn’t be either!

After a six hour flight, the captain came on over the plane’s speaker system announcing their impending landing at Los Angeles International Airport. Carol was excited about being in L.A. but at the same time apprehensive about being in such a large city. And she had no idea how big the airport that she would soon be in really was.

The flight attendant let Carol and Anna off first before the rest of the passengers disembarked. Anna helped Carol walk down the covered gangway leading into the terminal building and as they went through the door into the airport itself, Carol got her first sense of how massive the place was.

“Oh my god ... this place is huge!” Carol gasped as she processed the different sounds reaching her ears. She could tell by the way things sounded that the terminal building was immense. She held Anna’s arm a little tighter as they made their way through the massive terminal complex to the gate where they would board their connecting flight to Puerto Vallarta.

They had a half-hour layover so it wasn’t difficult to find and get to the gate they needed to reach, and after a seven hour second leg of their trip, they were landing in Puerto Vallarta. They gathered their belongings and like in Los Angeles, they got to leave the plane before everyone else, courtesy of a helpful flight attendant.

Thanks to Anna’s two semesters of Spanish in college, she was able to read and understand the signs and get them through the airport into a taxi and on to their hotel.