Silent Noise

Prologue

"Did you have fun, Tatum?" Mommy asked me.

"Yeah!" I squealed. My family and I were on our way back from Sesame Place, an amusement park based off of the TV show Sesame Street. I've always loved going there. Every time we had a chance to go, Mommy and Daddy would pack everything up and we would spend the day there.

"What was your favorite part, princess?" Daddy asked me while keeping his eyes on the road.

"Seeing Elmo and Mr. Noodles!" Elmo has always been my favorite character. And Mr. Noodles is an absolute trip! "Mommy, what about you?"

"I liked seeing Bert and Ernie."

"Ooh, they were funny! What about you, Daddy?"

"I liked seeing Cookie Monster," Daddy said in his Cookie Monster voice. I laughed at his attempt to be Cookie Monster. Mommy laughed too.

We drove in silence after that. We stopped at a red light and Daddy turned around to look  at me. I was wearing an Elmo shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of red Skechers. My hair was in pigtails and I had a smile on my face. "What do you want to do when we get home, princess?" Daddy asked me with a smile on his face as well.

"Can we watch Ariel?" She was my favorite princess.

"Anything you want, princess." then Daddy turned around to face forward again. The light turned green and Daddy started driving forward. I looked out the window to my left and saw bright lights.

"DADDY!" I screamed. Then everything went black.

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I opened my eyes and saw a very tall man standing in front of me. I looked around, but I couldn't see Mommy or Daddy. I looked up at the guy and saw his lips moving. But I couldn't hear anything that he was saying.

"Where are my mommy and daddy?" I asked the man. But I couldn't hear anything I just said. The man's lips started moving again, but once again, I heard nothing. "Mommy! Daddy!" I scream, but I still can't hear anything. What is going on?

The man picks me up and brings me over to a really huge truck. An ambulance, I think it's called. As he brought me over, I saw two white sheets over two lumps. I fought to get out of the man's grip and he finally sat me down in the back of the ambulance.

There was a huge gust of wind that gave me goosebumps. I could feel the wind whipping my hair across my cheeks. I looked around and saw the sheets dancing in the wind. Another gust of wind caused me to hug my body to stay warm. I looked over at the dancing sheets to see they were nowhere in sight. But I did see something-- rather, someone.

I froze when I saw Mommy's face. "Mommy?" I said as my eyes began to well up with tears. I still couldn't hear the sound of my own voice. I took in all of Mommy's features. Her red hair was all messed up. Her eyes were closed and she had scratches all over her face. She had a huge bloody cut that stretched across the top of her forehead. Her mouth was opened the tiniest bit, but she never moved. I looked over and I saw Daddy's black and red shoes. My eyes travelled further and further up Daddy's body until I came to his neck. Then there was nothing. Daddy's head wasn't on his body. The tears in my eyes had already began to fall. Now I was wailing. I couldn't hear it, but I could feel it.

"DADDY! MOMMY!" I screamed over and over and over again, hoping he would answer me. But I couldn't hear anything. Not even my own cries.

The same man who had brought me over to the ambulance walked back over towards me. He climbed in the back of the truck with me and held my hand. I turned to face him. His mouth started moving again. He picked me up and sat me down on a gurney. He was about to sit on the side bench when I grabbed his hand again. He looked down at me and gave me a small smile.

I felt a pinch on my arm and soon I felt tired. I lay back on the gurney and close my eyes.

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I woke up again in a bed that wasn't my own. I took in my surroundings and saw all white. The walls, the floor, and bedspread, everything was white. The lights in the room were absolutely blinding. I closed my eyes until I felt someone tap me on my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw two women. One was wearing a white coat. She waved to me and I waved back. She showed me a board and that said 'Hi, my name is Maggie. The other woman was wearing a purple shirt and black pants. She waved to me as well and I waved back. She was holding a board that said 'Hi, my name is Kelsey.'

"Hi Maggie, Hi Kelsey," I said. "Why are you writing on a board instead of talking to me?" I thought for a second. "Why can't I hear anything?" I asked Maggie.

She pulled out a bunch of flashcards with pictures on them. There was a picture of a girl on the first card.The next card showed a picture of two cars. Next, there was a picture of an ear. Then there was a picture of a brain. There was red coloring on a specific part of the brain. It confused me a lot. The next card showed a person touching their pointer finger and their middle finger to their ear. The next card showed the same person touching their same two fingers to their lips.

I looked up at Maggie and Kelsey with my eyebrows furrowed. I started trying to piece together what Maggie was showing me. After about a minute, I finally realized what she was trying to tell me. I may be 6 years old, but I understood. My eyes welled up with tears again. Mommy was a doctor, and she used to talk about a lot of the things she would see at work. Not to me, but to Daddy. I would just listen in to what she was saying.

"I can't hear anymore?" I asked Maggie.

She slowly shook her head no. The tears in my eyes fell down my cheeks as I started to cry again. Maggie and Kelsey came over to hug me and I accepted their warm hugs. I looked over at Kelsey and thought about something. Maggie was wearing a doctor suit, like Mommy did. Kelsey was wearing a professional suit, like Daddy would wear, but the girl version of it.

"Kelsey, are you a doctor?" I asked her.

She shook her head no.

"Then what are you doing here?" Kelsey took out a bunch of cards and started sifting through them. After about a minute, Kelsey started showing me her cards. The first picture was of a woman and a child that looked nothing like her. The next card was of a man and a woman. The next card was of two tombstones. Then there was a picture of a big house with a woman and a bunch of kids. The last card showed a picture of a family with a child who didn't look like the rest of them. It took a minute for everything to click.

I was going to be with new people? My eyes began watering again. A new home? My lips started to quiver. A new family? The tears started falling down my cheeks again. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. First, Mommy and Daddy die. Next, I lose my ability to hear. And now, I'm going to be living in a new place with strangers?

"I don't want to live with new people... I want my Mommy and Daddy..." I started sobbing. Kelsey gave me another big hug and looked me in the eye. I saw her mouth moving and her hands moving at the same time. I didn't know whether I should look at her hands, or at her mouth, but I was confused again.

Maggie wrote on her board and then turned it around for me to see.

'Everything will be okay, sweetheart.'