Paint in the Eye

It seems like we were always working to fix up the Solon house. Generally this work involved Mom, David, Richard, James, and me. Dad would help, if he wasn't too busy, and if his asthma would allow him. On one occasion the other boys and I were painting a room. Since I was the smallest I did the wall closest to the floor. It seems that I couldn't do the job right, according to James, who was working next to me. As we worked he got angrier and angrier.

"Stop messing up my work!” he said. "Cover the wall smoothly and evenly." A minute later he said, "Hey you're splashing the paint. Cut it out!" Then I accidentally splashed a little more paint on him. "I told you to stop splashing paint! Let's see how you like it." With that he took a paint brush full of paint and painted my face. The oil-based paint got in my eyes and burned. I started screaming.

My mother came running. "What's the matter? What’s the matter?" Then she saw the paint all over my face. "Oh dear! How do I get it out? Normally I would use turpentine, but that is very bad for your eyes. It would probably make you go blind. But then, we thin this paint with turpentine so it already is in your eyes. Oh dear, what do I do?"

I screamed even louder. "I don't want to go blind!"

"Stop rubbing your eyes! That isn't good for you!"

"I can't help it," I cried. "It hurts so bad."

"Well, keep crying," said my mother, "That will help wash the paint out."

David was disgusted with all the crying. "I could help him cry some more," said David eagerly.

"Here, we'll use this clean rag to wipe away the paint," offered my mother. "Then we’ll use some soap and water."

Eventually we got all the paint out of my eyes, but they were red and swollen for the rest of the day. I was excused from further painting that day. There was no permanent damage to my eyes.