He started to write, “ The damage done was too extensive and-” She repeated, but this time she was louder, the vibrations in her throat more intense, “Isn’t it just temporary?” Her mother patted her on the back and said something, forgetting again that she wasn’t able to hear. The others could hear the desperation her voice, “Isn’t it?” Her heart felt like it was being squeezed through the vacuum of space. Slowly he wrote out the words, those words that would snuff out the flame of her final hope, “The loss of hearing is permanent. I’m so sorry. ” A normally nonviolent person, Kristen had to restrain herself from lunging at the doctor and attacking him. Surprisingly there were no tears, but that was mainly because she didn’t believe him. She thought that it must have been his fault, there had to be something that could be done, he just wasn’t trying hard enough. In her imagination he died a thousand deaths as punishment for his lying, and her hearing was rightfully returned to her. Her suspicions turned out to be false, after numerous doctors telling her there was nothing they could do, the message sunk in. Every time the doctor would say the inevitable Kristen’s mother would try to swallow her tears, and fail. Even worse was her father who would roughly pat his damaged daughter on the back and stand unblinking, hiding his true thoughts, and she knew they were consuming him. Her parents were slowly realizing the burden this would be, everything would change because of this, and it dawned on her then too. She sat at her old piano, her fingers slowly caressing the keys, and she thought how beautiful it was. Before, it did not exist in the world of sight, it was a thing simply meant for the ears and nothing more, but now that was gone and the illusion shattered. Kristen was able to recognize how it was a work of art in craftsmanship. The paint job had lost it’s shine over the years, the black slowly dulling, but it miraculously hadn't chipped in any places. The curve of the piano, how she must have been blind to miss it’s beauty!
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