Sounds of This Earth

This is my first Flash Fiction story for my into to fiction class. It is in no way related to my true "inner feelings". It's just a story that I wrote and their really isn't any deeper meaning so don't read to far into it. It was, however, INSPIRED by my roommate Hannah who is an American sign language major. This is one of my first short stories so I admit it's a bit rough. Let me know what you think.

Sounds of This Earth

A whizzing car stirs a puddle in a deep crevice on the steaming black top. The calming hum of an insect sips nectar from a Mist Flower and its lavender core. Voices are raised in an argument cursing one another’s existence. Sounds of this vibrant rock I will never hear. Chirping sparrows and scampering squirrels I know are here. I sit on this bench alone willing my ears to pick up the noises. Vibrations and murmurs accompany the silence.

      In another life I would rouse my friends and make jokes about the astonishing people of this place. Now I watch them, secretly hating them.  They take for granted, they neglect the gift. Like an emaciated mutt without a fighting chance they ignore and disregard the ability to take in the world. What a lucky girl the articles say, a miracle to say the least. To survive a tragedy such as hers! How blessed she must feel. And they are right, I should feel this way. Instead I am alone. Enclosing myself in a box taped shut. My world is gone. Gone with the ashes. Gone to never return.

      I get a text from Doctor Freeman who wants to see me. Of course I go expecting the worst. The vacant walls speak to me and remind me of that day. I feel sick to my stomach as those, all too fresh, memories resurface. My nurse, who I have come to know very well, gestures for me to follow her down the hall. I sit in my usual chair inside the blue gray exam room. She pulls out her pad and writes to me, “How have your signing lesson’s been going?” I give her a crooked look and her shoulders rise up in down indicating the hearty laugh that is passing through her lips. Doctor Freeman finally arrives and my palms get sweaty. He puts his hand on my thigh and gives it a squeeze. Then he says something to me and grins. His grandpa like features feel warm so I smile back. He writes on the pad and hands it to me. In big messy letters it reads, “You will hear again!”