Running out the door, I scrambled to get into my car as fast as possible. I dropped my keys on the floor of the car and groaned.

“This is not appreciated,” I murmured to myself and picked the keys up with great effort. Flexibility, and exercise for that matter, was not my forte. The car protested when I tried to start it and I pleaded for it to work just until I got home later in the day. Or whenever.

Finally, the car started and I sped out of my driveway. I was probably going a bit too fast but I needed to get to the restaurant before 7:30. My boyfriend’s band was playing for the first time there and I had to be there supporting him. Adrian had the most beautiful voice; I wondered every day why he wasn’t famous already. I had been with him and his band since the beginning and I loved everything they played. I was a bit biased towards my boyfriend, obviously, but they were all amazing.
The highway, to my surprise, was empty except for my car and this other car that looked ancient. I couldn’t put my finger on why but the car looked creepy too. Taking my mind off of it, I watched the road and looked at the exits on the right. The highway seemed to drag on and on. That or the exit I was taking was getting farther and farther.

I drove for what felt like years and at last, the exit was coming up. I turned on my signal and waited for the other car on the right lane to slow down or speed up so I could move to that lane. The car wouldn’t do either so I decided to speed up and move anyways but as I was switching lanes, the other car sped up. I tried to swerve back to the left but my car wouldn’t move. The impact of our cars was completely unexpected and I couldn’t hold back a bloodcurdling scream. My head went blank and I was dizzy. I couldn’t see what was happening. I couldn’t think. The world spun and pain attacked me in all directions. Everything went black.


I opened my eyes to a blinding white room I had never seen before. My vision blurred and my head pounded uncontrollably. I painstakingly sat up in the uncomfortable bed I was lying in and looked around to find myself in a hospital room. Although I had never been in one before, it looked scarily identical to the ones on television. There was no one around but the room was still eerily silent. I couldn’t hear anything. No machines beeping, no people conversing outside the door, no cars driving by on the street below me. Looking outside the window, I saw life thriving but I couldn’t hear any of it. Why would they sound-proof a hospital room? I thought when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped and jerked around to see a middle-aged nurse with a gentle smile.

“That scared me…” I gasped but no words came out. I swore my lips were moving but my voice wouldn’t come out. My eyes widened and my hands unconsciously flew to my mouth. I froze in fear and I watched the nurse’s face change into a serious expression and rush out the door. Did I…lose my voice…? I was still frozen unsure of what to think.

A minute later a man walked in and I assumed he was the doctor. His face was even more serious than the nurse. I panicked and telepathically pleaded for help. He turned to the nurse that came in after him and his lips started to move but I couldn’t hear his voice. Wait, I was worrying so much about my voice that I didn’t even realize I still can’t hear anything… I couldn’t hear the door or their footsteps and I can’t hear him talking. My eyes widened again and my tears started to spill out.

I couldn’t hear. I was deaf.