It was a sunny, frosty day. Snow glistened on the branches of trees. Silence… Only in the distance could the faint voices of birds be heard. Upon waking, Vera realised that a new day had begun. Vera was the name of a small fair-haired girl, thin, extraordinarily lively and cheerful, with a bright laugh. And Vera also loved to draw very much. She dreamed of touching a miracle.
Every night the girl asked the heavens to help her. The thing was, Vera had been blind from birth. She had never seen the world around her; she knew it only through smells, tastes, sensations and sounds. But she so wanted to wake up one day, open her eyes and see the endless blue sky above her, the bright sun, beautiful flowers, dazzlingly white snow. And most importantly, of course, her mum. The girl had never seen or known her mother; she lived in a children's home.
Vera continued to draw all the same. Yes, she could not see, but her soul was so pure and open that drawings appeared on paper by themselves and were remarkably vivid and bright. God did not give her sight, but gave her something more important — the ability to love and feel, the capacity to rejoice in life, no matter what.
One day something happened that turned Vera's entire world upside down. Late in the evening the girl, as usual, was going to bed. As soon as she closed her eyes, various visions appeared before her: the lights of great cities, streams of cars passing in an endless procession past her windows, bright green grass, flowering apple trees, fluttering colourful butterflies, a boundless blue sea. These visions so captivated Vera that she did not want to open her eyes.
