The nurse was the first to discover Charlotte's unique predicament. So far, it had been yet another dull day in the small Orange County Hospital; even the clock seemed tired, as it struggled to lift the second hand back around to the top. The nurse yawned and bent down to yank up her loose tights. As she straightened up, she caught a glimpse of a woman in room 14 beginning to pick up her new baby, Charlotte. "I'd better go show that lady the proper way to hold a baby," thought the nurse, and she ambled into the room. She immediately noticed that something was wrong, for though the mom tenderly held her new baby to her shoulder, two big blue eyes were staring directly at the nurse!
"Ahhhh, that baby's got eyes on the back of her head!" screamed the nurse, and then, she fainted.
Smack! The loud thunk of the nurse hitting the floor brought forth a horde of doctors rushing to the room. Their attention, however, quickly shifted from the fainted nurse to Charlotte.
"My goodness, what an interesting specimen," one doctor exclaimed, whisking Charlotte away from her mom. Another doctor joined him, measuring and examining various anatomical parts of Charlotte's body.
"How could this possibly be?" the perplexed pediatrician pondered. "Does her father, by any chance, have six eyes?"
"Or do you, by any chance, live close to a radioactive waste dumping ground?" the other doctor added.
"He most certainly does not, and we most certainly do not," the mother answered, by this time quite irritated. She was getting sick of this hospital with its drab, khaki walls, peeling linoleum floors, and staff of overzealous doctors. "Hmmm," the doctors hummed as they again huddled over Charlotte. "I think it's quadoculosis, the condition of having four eyes, but I've never seen such a well-developed case," announced one.
"What an excellent research opportunity!" proclaimed another. "Think of the papers we could write, the studies we could perform." "We'll all be rich and famous!" exclaimed the nurse (by this time revived). Charlotte's mom had had enough.
"Charlotte is not a lab specimen!" she shouted. "She is not some 'object' to be researched! It is hard enough to have four eyes when everyone else has two, she doesn't need to be gawked at by doctors on top of all that. If you'll excuse me, my daughter and I are going home!" The mom snatched Charlotte from the doctors, grabbed their things, and stormed from the hospital, leaving behind a flock of doctors as shocked as the kid who'd shoved a fork down the toaster Charlotte grew up like any other baby. She had a little up-turned nose and a smattering of freckles on her cheeks. Her hair grew in straight and auburn, except around her eyes; there it didn't grow in at all, but left two little bald spots. The people in the small, isolated village of Clementine (located 22 miles away from the larger town of Orange) never batted so much as an eyelash at Charlotte's deformity. After all, if you live in a place like Clementine, you must be a little odd yourself. Soon, it was time for Charlotte to go to school. Charlotte felt a little nervous; after all, it's hard to have four eyes when everyone else has two.
On the first day of school, Charlotte awoke bright and early in the morning. She got dressed and cautiously brushed back her hair, being careful not to accidentally brush over her eyes. Her mom had fixed her a special breakfast, but Charlotte was so nervous and excited ("I'm neurvited," she thought) that it tasted funny. Her warm blueberry muffin seemed hard and dry. Charlotte nearly choked as she tried to swallow. The orange juice was overly sweet and failed to reduce the dryness of Charlotte's mouth.
"Are you ready to go?" her mom asked.
"Yep!" said Charlotte, and off they drove to school.
Charlotte quickly made her way to the kindergarten classroom. The classroom was bright and had the sweet aroma of glue sticks with a hint of the distinctive smell of magic markers. It was impossible to be nervous in a room like that. Once all of the other kindergartners had arrived, Ms. Keindenfare, Charlotte's new teacher, began. "Welcome to school, kindergartners," she said. "To start the day, I want everyone to tell the class something interesting about themselves. Jimmy, you can start." Jimmy told the class that he had twin sisters. Then Louisa told how she had visited her grandparents in the summer. Soon, it was Charlotte's turn.
"Hello," she said. "I'm Charlotte and I have four eyes." She turned around to show the class her eyes. Everyone was very impressed, especially Ms. Keindenfare, who turned several shades paler.
"Whew," thought Charlotte. "That wasn't so bad.
The rest of the day continued to go well, too. Some of the kids in Charlotte's class even shared their body abnormalities with her. She learned about Molly's extra toe, and how James had a birthmark on his stomach. Charlotte was glad that no one cared about her extra eyes; in fact, she came to find them quite handy. In first grade, she became the fastest reader in the class. In second grade, she never had to twist or contort her body to view the teacher. In third grade, she amazed everyone with her gymnastics talent (she was the only student to never fall off the balance beam when walking backwards); however, in fourth grade, things began to change.
In fourth grade, Charlotte went to a new, bigger school that had fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth graders in it! Most of the kids in the school had never met Charlotte before. Charlotte took a deep breath before entering the building; after all, it's hard to have four eyes when everyone else has two.
As Charlotte walked down the hall to her classroom, a girl named Bridgett stopped her. Bridgett had big, poofy blonde hair and her lips were very shiny. "What are those weird spots on your head?" asked Bridgett.
"Oh, those are eyes," explained Charlotte. "Instead of having two eyes, I have four."
"Eew!" squealed Bridgett. "Get away from me, freak!" Kids in the hall turned to see what all the commotion was about.
"That girl," said Bridgett, pointing at Charlotte, "has eyes on the back of her head!" Everyone gasped. Charlotte could see people staring at her as she walked toward the classroom.
Things got worse as the day went on. Charlotte discovered that Bridgett was also in Miss Beekwyette's class, and when Charlotte saw James from her old school, he stared at her just like the kids in the new school did.
"What's wrong with you, James?" asked Charlotte. "You never thought I was weird before."
"Well, that was when I was little. I didn't realize until I came here how weird it is for someone to have four eyes," he replied. "So what if I'm different?" said Charlotte. "You have a birthmark on your stomach. That's weird."
"Not as weird as extra eyes. Now goodbye, Charlotte. If anybody sees me talking to you, they'll think I'm weird, too." Crushed, Charlotte left the room. She could see James joining a group of boys in the back of the room. James would say something, and the other kids would laugh and turn to stare at Charlotte.
"The worst part about having extra eyes on the back of my head," lamented Charlotte, "is that I always know when people are talking behind my back"
Charlotte tried wearing hats to school and brushing her hair to cover her eyes, but hats weren't allowed in school and Charlotte hated being able to see only straight ahead. The kids in the school eventually grew to ignore Charlotte, and apart from an occasional stare, it was as if she wasn't there. Bridgett, on the other hand, continued to make fun of her.
People have two eyes, Whether rich or poor, Except, of course, for Charlotte, That freak's got four!
Charlotte tried to pretend that Bridgett's chants didn't bug her, but in reality, they really made Charlotte feel bad. It stunk to have four eyes when everyone else had two. "I am Bridgett's hair," thought Charlotte, "and she can't wait to tease me."
One day, after yet another lonely lunch, Charlotte made her way back to the classroom. Miss Beekwyette told the kids to gather on the floor because she had a book to read to them. The book's title was Charlotte's Web. The class tittered at the title, some of them turning to look at Charlotte.
"This book," continued Miss Beekwyette, "is about a little girl named Fern, a pig named Wilbur, and a spider named Charlotte." More laughter bubbled forth from the class. "Shush, quiet down," admonished Miss Beekwyette. Bridgett raised her hand.
"What is it, Bridgett?" asked Miss Beekwyette.
"Spiders have eight eyes," said Bridgett.
"Yes, that is true, most spiders do have eight eyes," confirmed Miss Beekwyette.
"So," continued Bridgett, "if the Charlotte in our class had to get glasses, she'd have eight eyes just like Charlotte the spider." The entire class burst into laughter.
"Ahh! It's a spider!" kids cried as they scooted away from Charlotte. "But I have only four eyes," wailed Charlotte. Tears the size of saucers began to flow from all four of her eyes.
Suddenly, Charlotte realized something; her eyes quickly dried. Confidently, she raised her hand, and barely suppressing a smile, she questioned, "Miss Beekwyette, how many eyes does Wilbur have?"
Bridgett butted in with the answer. "He has two, of course, like all pigs do. Are you stupid, or what?" Then Bridgett realized what she had said. James guffawed, Mark giggled, and then the whole class erupted. Ringing peals of laughter filled the room as the class realized what Bridgett had said. Pigs have two eyes, and Bridgett has two eyes. Eventually, the laughter died away; after all, apart from Charlotte, everyone in the classroom had two eyes. Miss Beekwyette, satisfied that everyone had finally calmed down, began to open the book to read. Suddenly, Olive, a timid a girl from the other side of the room, broke the silence. "Why do you have four eyes, Charlotte?" she asked softly. "I've always wanted to know, but I've been too embarrassed to ask." Charlotte was thrilled; finally, someone was talking to her kindly, with sincere interest.
"Nobody really knows why," she answered. "All I know is that the doctors call it 'quadoculosis,' and they think something just got messed up in my DNA."
"Can you catch it?" another kid asked.
"Nope," replied Charlotte. Suddenly, the room was filled with kids asking Charlotte questions. "Do you have any brothers and sisters with four eyes?" "What is it like having four eyes?" "How do you wash your hair without getting soap in your eyes?" Even Bridgett asked questions earnestly. Miss Beekwyette gave a slight sigh as she settled back into her chair and put Charlotte's Web back on the bookshelf; she'd start reading it to the class tomorrow instead.
Charlotte answered the questions as best she could. "I guess everyone was so preoccupied wondering about my eyes that they never got a chance to know me," she thought. "From now on, if somebody is looking at me in a weird way, I'll just explain. That way they can stop worrying about my outside, and start knowing the real me." Kids around the class were making similar realizations. They'd been thinking about only Charlotte's eyes; they'd never gotten to know her. After Charlotte's explanation to the class, she found things went much better. She made a lot of new friends, and even Bridgett was much nicer now that she knew more about Charlotte's condition.
Time flew by, and before Charlotte knew it, it was time for her to start high school. As she entered the new building for the first time, she thought, "Here we go again." Charlotte was slightly nervous, because it is hard to have four eyes when everyone else has two.
However, this year, Charlotte had a plan. Taking a deep breath, she put on a big smile and began introducing herself to kids as she walked down the hallway. "Hi, I'm Charlotte. Yes, I have four eyes. It's called quadoculosis. Anything else you want to know? Nice to meet you, too." It was a little tiring to answer the same questions over and over, but it was definitely worth it. Now that the kids knew the mystery of her eyes, they got to know the whole Charlotte.
Charlotte's plan had worked! Some of the kids were even a little jealous of her. After all, learning to drive is a lot easier when you have 360 degree vision. Plus, Charlotte was always chosen to be a hall monitor.
Charlotte graduated from high school, and then college. She worked studying animals in the wild, where her amazing observation skills came in very handy. After a decade of that, she was then recruited by the Air Force to fly planes. Unlike most pilots, Charlotte did not have the handicap of not being able to see enemy planes coming up from behind. After many successful years of piloting, Charlotte decided to retire from the Air Force. She then went into teaching. Her favorite part of the job was giving her introduction on the first day of school.
"Welcome, 10th graders," she'd say. "I'm Ms. Justice. Don't try any tricks with me, because I've got eyes on the back of my head." The cynical 10th graders would always groan and roll their eyes ... and then Charlotte would turn around and roll hers!
