11 January 2012 @ midnight
Slandermouth
Northwest England

Wind battered a rickety witch’s cottage which stood on legs beachside, legs that didn’t look capable of their sole purpose. Inside the gentle swaying disturbed the tea of Talisha Crowe and swung the hanging lamp above her head. From far in the Slandermouth town square, a clock tower rang midnight.

Talisha Crowe, a strange witch with a long neck, sat on the edge of her sofa. Her hair was gathered up and out of the way with a scarf and she wore a silky nightrobe spotted with swallows. In front of her, a closed wooden case. Beside it, an awl. Outside, lighting lit up the sea.

With a practiced motion, the witch took up the awl and slowly slid the sharp end into the corner of her eye. A swift twist and her eyeball protruded frightfully then fell out into her waiting hand. She held it up to the light. It was glass crafted in stunning verisimilitude. The white was just the right kind of white, the iris with depth of color like an amaretto, and the pupil deep and dark and empty. This object, it was not truly round. It was slick, thick, and convex, shaped perfectly to fit Talisha Crowe’s willing socket.

She set the awl aside and opened the case. A dozen similar artifacts looked back, each nestled in their own compartment. Some lay still and lifeless. Others looked around, others glowed faintly in blue, orange, and green. There were many with ordinary round pupils, but there were a few with the square pupils of a ewe, others were feline slits. Faded and peeling, like such that would be found in specimen archive, were tiny labels affixed to each compartment.

Talisha returned the eye in her hand to the only empty space. Its tag said DAY. Talisha ran her fingers over the collection. She paused on an eye labeled FOR READING. Its neighbors said MOTHER and DARK. One said TRUTH and another said PROTECTION. The one marked LIES was near the end adjacent to PETRIFY and ROSIE OUTLOOK.

Oh! She’d forgotten her tea. If she wasn’t careful she’d miss the window where tea found its perfect temperature. Talisha sat up and lifted the cup to her face. She savored the fragrance as again, a crack of lighting streaked across the clouds.

She yawned loudly. It was late. She returned her attention to her selection, moving now with more purpose. The eye she chose was black instead of white and the iris was inlaid gold. She reached around her own head to lift her lid so she could slide the eye in, the eye that came from the compartment tagged NIGHTMARE.