A World of Her Own

Chapter 11

"Liora! Liora! Liora!" Ranga danced around Liora's feet, repeatedly calling her name. Liora had never seen him so excited. She could hardly believe this was the same quiet boy she had met a little over a week ago. He was bubbling with excitement.

"Do you see my new hearing aids? Aren't they cool? Look at the tiger stickers! And my mom got me this tiger shirt to match. I can hear so much better now. I can hear my teacher and my friends and even the birds! I never heard the birds before. Can you hear birds, Liora? They sound like this...tweet, tweet...but really high. There is this kid in my class that can whistle real loud, exactly like a bird. I wish I could whistle like him. I whistle but it doesn't sound like that. Liora! Can you whistle? I wish I could whistle like a bird. Sometimes when I touch my hearing aids, they whistle and it sounds like a bird. I touched my hearing aids in class today and they whistled. And everyone asked where the bird was. And I said, 'It's me! I'm a bird!' And then I flapped my arms and pretended to fly and everyone laughed, even the teacher. And I could hear all my friends in class and even someone was whispering and I heard it! I just think they are so cool and....show me your hearing aids, Liora. Are they orange like mine?" Ranga suddenly stopped and took a breath.

Liora stared in amazement at the steady stream of words tumbling out of Ranga's mouth. He had never talked this much before. Now it seemed like he couldn't stop talking. She pulled her hair back and showed Ranga her hearing aids. They were small and brown, discreetly blending into her hair. A far cry from Ranga's bright orange aids with small tiger stickers on them. Liora smiled at the little boy who was still dancing around. He was taking a breath, getting ready for the next torrent of words about to come out of his mouth. She wondered if they would get any reading done or if the time would all be spent in talking. "I'm glad you like your hearing aids, Ranga," she interjected, before he started another monologue. "How was the visit with Dr. Bronsky?" 

"It was great!" spouted Ranga. "Dr. Bronsky had wrapped up the hearing aids like a present and then when I opened the box, the hearing aids were decorated with the tiger stickers! It was so cool!" Liora smiled when she heard Ranga say 'cool'. He was obviously picking up American slang very quickly. Ranga wasn't finished talking. "Dr. Bronsky put the hearing aids in my ears and asked how they felt. At first, they were a little scratchy but he moved them around and they felt good. And his voice sounded really loud! And then I heard some noises outside that sounded really squeaky! Dr. Bronsky told me that they were birds. It hurt my ears at first but Dr. Bronsky took my hearing aids and put them on this thing and pushed some buttons. Then he had me try them on. It was still tooo loud. He did that again and then when I put my hearing aids on, the sounds didn't hurt anymore. And I've been hearing all the sounds. I never knew birds did so much singing. And bugs are so noisy! Mama told me they were cic..cic...." He paused.

"Cicadas," supplied Liora with a smile. "You are right. They are noisy. They will be gone soon when the weather gets cooler." "Cicadas," finished Ranga. "And I can hear trucks from far away and I can understand Mama and Ayah when they call me from the other room. I'm so happy!" He smiled broadly and jumped up and down. Then he flopped on the couch. They were in their regular reading room. Christina was already engrossed in a book but Ranga and Liora had yet to start reading. Liora sat down next to Ranga and opened the book of Rudyard Kipling stories. But Ranga was too excited to concentrate. He kept bouncing up and down on the couch. He would wiggle his hearing aids and make them squeal. He would turn and show Liora the tiger stickers on his hearing aids. Then he wanted to see Liora's. Finally, Liora put the book aside. It was clear they wouldn't be getting any reading done today. 

Ranga turned to her on the couch. "Liora, did you wear hearing aids when you were a little kid?" "Yes," said Liora. She had already told Ranga that but he didn't seem to remember. "I've had hearing aids since I was younger than you." "What about the other part?" asked Ranga. "The part you put in just for school? And the teacher has to wear something?" "You mean the ALDI, the listening device," responded Liora. "Yes, I wore that for school when I was younger. And my teacher wore the microphone." Ranga was thoughtful for a minute. "Dr. Bronsky gave me that part too. But I didn't wear it today. He wanted me to wear just the hearing aids today. He had me put it into my hearing aids when I was with him. So, I would know how to do it. But Mama is going to help me with them in the morning. And I have to take them out for gym class. And give my teacher the microphone. It's a lot to remember."