Sounds of This Earth
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!”
