A Conversation Between the Deaf & Blind

Two men are best buddies. One is deaf. One is blind. Together, they help each other in many ways.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE DEAF & BLIND - ---   Though Carl’s friend Daniel was born deaf, he had his eyesight and managed well in life. Carl had done pretty well himself and his blindness didn’t stop him from seeing that Daniel was a good man. It was Daniel’s wife that got the two men talking to each other and the conversation was never going to stop. “What is it like to actually hear the world around you?” Daniel asked Carl. There were so many sounds that he missed out on and he wanted to know. “What does Lisa’s voice sound like? I’ve been married to her for twenty years and I’ve lost her voice in the silence. What do you hear when my children are laughing or crying on a rainy day?” Carl smiled. “Your sweet wife has the voice of the softest velvet you've ever felt and your children’s laughter imitates the sunrise when it smiles. Believe me, my friend. I may not be able to see but I can hear nature. So, If you ever stop to look at the dawns horizon, imagine that you are hearing the words that your daughters and sons say. You will always "hear" them in the morning glory.” He said. “O.K., and just what do you hear in the sounds of the wind?” Daniel asked. “Just think of how fast signing hands talk to you when you’re in a hurry and someone is gossiping to you about someone else. The wind is a gossiper in that way. It races through the air and points a finger at everything but itself. It might come in a hush but it quickly becomes more annoying. The wind only mocks itself in the same fashion that the gossiper turns people off.” Daniel and Carl sat on the front porch of Daniel’s house for the longest time, rocking on the hickory chairs and shooting the bull. When it was Daniel’s turn to answer Carl’s questions, he thought long and hard about it. “Carl, I know you’ve never actually seen your wife or your daughter, Lisa, and I’m sure you wonder about it. You hear your wife, Bonnie, laugh and yet you cannot see the expression on her face. When she’s crying, you cannot see the tears in her eyes. Yet, I know that you see with your heart and, because of that, there’s nothing really wrong with your vision. When I look at your wife, I see everything that you hear in the sounds of her laughter. And, you’ve told me that you can’t always tell the difference when you listen to your daughter laugh. Bonnie and Lisa’s identical laughter is a perfect match made in heaven for you. Words do not always come easy, my friend, but I really think you “see” your wife and children better than I do. I do not have anything to say about the tears that you do not see, or the wind and the rain. The wind is only anger that is beaten down by the rain and all of our tears are making friends with the rainbows. All I can think to add to what I’ve said is that we are going to stay as friends for a long, long time and learn from each other. Carl and Daniel are the best of buddies.

Reviews

[Rana]

"...So, If you ever stop to look at the dawns horizon, imagine that you are hearing the words that your daughters and sons say. You will always "hear" them in the morning glory..." -some fairly much serenely beautiful thoughts spun into dialogues here, Karen. There is some aesthetic wisdom, some cynical venting (in the simile of the gossiper wind) to be found between the words here. The flow and tone, smooth and fine. One suggestion if i can make one would be to give it a more informal feel while they talk so it seems more natural than like narration, for instance, "I do not have anything to say about the tears that you do not see, or the wind.." like "Can't say much about the tears you don't see, or the wind..." to make it for faster reading, compact phrasing. Keep writing- xoxo.