El Fuego

My father always told me that one can weigh the heart of another person just by looking into their eyes. ‘Eyes are a window to a person’s true character and nature.’ he would often say.

He would give me the example of a con-man.  “Have you ever noticed that they (con-men) rarely make a mistake in selecting their victims?” he would ask. “They look into people’s eyes, and from what they see they make out what type of person the victim is.” Surprisingly, they are rarely wrong.

I always wondered how they know that a person is carrying something valuable. It was like they had x-ray vision. And how they knew what exactly to say in order to trick someone always intrigued me. How could the eyes hold so much about a person? What exactly would you be looking for if you were searching for answers in a person’s eyes?

My father called that ‘thing’ in a person’s eyes, The Fire.

As I grew up, I began to understand what he meant.

You see when I was growing up, I had a problem with my eyes. I had a rare allergy and an additional condition that I never got to know what it was. My eyes were constantly itching and red. I would shed tears whenever a draught passed between my eyelids. I was constantly wiping my tears with my hands. When I was nine, I started having unexplained episodes of blindness. It was hard to explain to my parents what I was going through. It felt like my eyes had fish scales. I was constantly afraid.

As I grew, the allergy slowly died out and the ‘episodes’ disappeared. Something wonderful happened to me that I still can’t explain to this day. I started seeing colors getting brighter and objects got clearer and nearer. In fact, I think my eyesight is above average. I see more colors that recorded in a color chart. I think I  have synesthesia [Writer’s note: I hear colors and see sound]. I have also started noticing other people’s eyes. I’ve learnt how to read them and talk through mine. My father was right after all.

I believe one can tell the intentions of another just by connecting with their eyes. Eyes are honest and true. In them, you can see hate, love, spite, malice, happiness and sorrow. Eyes say the things the mouth won’t say. They scream out the fears the heart won’t admit. In a fight, the winning dog is the one whose eyes are completely devoid of fear. The most sincere apology is one that is expressed face to face; eye to eye. Love begets appreciation by sight. Beauty is priceless just by sight. By sight, we are able to tell relationships worth fighting for and those that require letting go.Sight etches memory and evokes feelings.

However, sight alone breeds no answers. Sight must be combined with perception. With sight, you can see a bare electrical wire. With sight and perception, you can understand the danger this bare wire posses. You react accordingly and in the end your decision saves your life.

When I look into my father’s eyes, I see pride and respect. In my mother’s eyes I see hope and understanding. In my best friend’s eyes I see, unconditional friendship. I see an unwavering ‘to the death’ attitude and I know me and mine are safe and looked after.

How about this beautiful eyed woman that has taken over me? In her eyes I see life, love, virtue and something else I can’t quite tell. I’m working on it. It is a mystery. I hope it’s something nice.

The one thing present in all these eyes is the fire. It is the energy that every eye generates. The strength of a character is determined by the intensity of the fire in a person’s eyes. It doesn’t matter if a person is young or old.

When you look in those eyes, what do you see?