War of the Wind by Victoria Williamson

Author:Victoria Williamson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781911107514
Publisher: Neem Tree Press

CHAPTER 17

It was the strangest dinner I’d had in years. Not because it was weird being there—I’d spent months in the Brodys’ kitchen last year learning sign language with Erin and her mother. And not because the food was bad or anything—Mrs Brody could cook like a pro, and I had more second helpings of fried rice and cherry scones than my stomach could comfortably hold. No, it was strange because it was all so…normal. I’d almost forgotten what a normal family dinner was like.

Mr and Mrs Brody were just as happy talking with us in sign language as they were speaking to each other, and sometimes Erin would make a comment out loud too, though she usually had to say it a couple of times before her parents understood. No one looked uncomfortable or embarrassed when something had to be repeated, and no one was disappointed with me if I didn’t understand a sign or I needed something written down. For the first time in nearly two years, I didn’t feel like a complete freak just because my ears didn’t work anymore.

It was a nice feeling, a warm glow in the pit of my stomach that didn’t just come from Mrs Brody’s baking. I wanted to hold on to it forever, but I knew when I went home it would evaporate. As soon as I sat down to a family meal with my parents, with my dad all embarrassed by my attempts to communicate, my mum tired and distracted, and my baby sister screaming for attention and ruining everything, the happiness would be gone in a flash.

The ringing phone saved me from beating myself up for thinking Erin’s family was much better than mine. I knew it was ringing because there was a little red light on the handset that was flashing. Mrs Brody had told Mum and me about a messaging service that deaf people could use over the phone, and Mum had offered to get one for our house, but what was the point? Nobody over the age of ninety used landlines these days. What was I supposed to do with it? Ask Calum and the gang to give up their football games and Friday nights eating chips down by the harbour so they could sit around at home calling me with stone-age technology?

Only that smart phone speech-to-text app would give me the chance to hang out with my old gang like I used to. I was so desperate to get on the internet and download it onto Dad’s mobile and so we could have normal family dinners like the Brodys I felt like I was going to burst with impatience.

Mr Brody talked on the phone for what seemed like ages, and Beanie looked like she was going to suffocate from holding her breath for so long. But when he hung up there was a big grin on his face, and Beanie nearly hugged him to death when he told her the news.

“What is it?” I asked Mrs Brody.

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