The Sound we Praise

Question: WHAT DO YOU SEE?

The photo is of Harold Whittles. In the caption of the picture it read 'Harold Whittles hears for the first time ever after a doctor places an earpiece in his left ear.' But I see so much more than that.

I see a boy who is shocked; the shock seems to have been a positive shook rather than a negative one.

It is a look of utter shock smeared across a young boy's face. 

It says 'I can't believe this' and 'Am I dreaming?' Never in his life did he think of such a miracle occurring, at least not to him. 

His eyes scream SURPRISE by the way they are widened almost representing saucers. The pupils are tiny and the shine represents the light. His eyes scream HOPE, which is what he always had. 

His eyebrows are arched in CONFUSION and SHOCK. He does not know what is happening, all he has is a strange feeling, something we all take for granted: Hearing.

His lips are gaped in shock. They resemble a fish that is out of water.  His lips are curved, plump and somewhat feminine. A bit of his tooth shows under his upper lip.

His Hair is ruffled and somewhat combed, it seems as though he ran a comb through a minor case of bedhead.

His head seems too big to fit on his shoulders but that is Okay because he is only a child.

He is wearing what seems to be a light or white shirt. He came dressed for the occasion.

The device coming out of his ear seems to be causing his the shock. It just stays inside his ear like a headphone does to us nowadays.

Only in his wildest dreams did he think of this ever happening. 

The shadows across his face signify a planned event. The shadows signify a flash, most likely of a camera flash or some other form of light. The shadows go from the right side of his face to the left. They create a somewhat perfect atmosphere to the boy's shock and confusion. 

Maybe it was a gift or the boy's greatest wish. The event was planned and the photo was taken, marking it as a day in this boy's history, a memorable time for him to ever remember. A day he would never forget.

Question: WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Harold Whittles is hearing for the first time. A device is plugged into his ear in the resemblance of a headphone. The device allows him to hear sound as we normal, mundane even- people do on a regular basis. He is doing something he has never done. He is doing something he has never experienced or even recognizes as we do on a regular basis. Harold Whittles is hearing sound.

He seems (and most likely is) extremely surprised, shocked even. Shock is an unanswered question that nobody can stop asking. The young boy is asking himself, 'What is happening? What is this strange feeling? What is it that vibration I hear? Am I hearing?' 

Although people who are born deaf don't understand what it is like to hear sound, they still know what it is. They can feel sound through the vibrations delivered to their ear. 

In this picture Harold Whittles is not only receiving vibrations but his brain is also interpreting it. 

He is hearing and is in shock because of it. There is a wide-eyed blank gaze in the eyes of the boy. 

He doesn't comprehend the event happening, all he can feel is the confusion and shock.

Question: WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN?

It is very obvious what is going to happen. Harold Whittles is going to spend his days hearing. He is going to be grateful to the doctor who put an implant in his ear allowing him to hear. He would also be grateful to the choices his parents made causing him to hear for the first time ever. He might not entirely understand the concept of hearing, which is to perceive by the ear. Now that he has a listening device he is capable of hearing and interpreting sound. Although he will not understand what anybody is saying, he would do his best to comprehend. Harold might want to stick to using a pencil and paper or even sign language to communicate. Harold will have to take special lessons to understand languages and special classes to learn how to speak fluently and without gurgles. He could probably learn more than one language easily now that he has the ability to hear. Harold would then proceed to go to school with kids his age. He might be bullied because of the device attached to his head that allows him to hear.

On the negative side, he also might become suicidal due to the bullying and attempt to kill himself or remove the device allowing him to be in silence, his peace, once again. At night he would remove the listening device and be at peace with himself and his mind. Harold would be overwhelmed at first by the many strange and sometimes annoying sounds he may hear. He may become overwhelmed to the point of never wanting to hear. He would detest the person who implanted the listening device and want to rid of it forever. Those were some of the negative things that might happen in Harold's future.

On the positive side, Harold Whittles might lead a great, joyful life. He would learn a couple of languages and go to school. He would have great friends and maybe a girlfriend when he was older. He would have a great High school life but might be bullied a couple of times, then again that's what his friends are for. After high school, he would get a diploma to some college and get a degree of his choice. His disability wouldn't hinder him anymore and he would be forever grateful to the doctor who fixed his hearing. If his devise were ever to break he would be miserable but he would have friends at his side who understand him.

A Maids Savior

Tokyo, Japan

The streets were bustling with people. Tourist and locals alike all went on with their lives, cosplayers chattered as they walked  The tourist gazed around the streets in  amazement and took pictures with their tiny portable cameras. It was only 11 am on a Sunday and yet the streets were filled with potential customers. The sky was a bright blue, not a cloud in sight and the sun shone brightly upon the spring day in western Tokyo, Japan. On Sunday is where most people travel to Harajuku. My family owns a tiny maid cafe here in the western part of Tokyo, Harajuka. Our cafe is called 'Lovely'. It is along one of the side streets of Takeshita Dori (Takeshita Street) and it is just one of the many you'll ever in Harajuku.

I stood by the door awaiting a costumer, at least, to show up. I wore a white ruffled dress that reached the thighs, the sleeves went down to my wrist, and the collar rose at the base of my throat  I wore a black white-laced apron that split at my chest. A black laced bow was tied at my neck, black tights and little black flats decorated my feet. On my hair was a filly white bow, my hair dark raven was let down reaching up to my waist. My beige skin shone brightly with all the powder and glitter my mom dropped on me.

"I find this a waste of time." I groaned, "Nobody's coming, only our regulars are here. Not that's bad or anything!" The regulars just laughed, they were used to this.

"Oh stop whining Aoi!" scolded my sister, "It's only been half an hour." My sister, Yukina, was older than me. She started working for the maid cafe at the age of 15, which is my current age. We were separated by three years in age, she came out looking more like our mother and I came out looking like my father. My mother had beautiful dark brown hair, her eyes were a light shade of brown and her complexion was somewhat tan. My sister came out looking just like her except she was taller than my mother. My father was a semi-tall man, with short dark raven hair, although he was over 40 years old his face was still young. He stood over a half a foot above my mom, and only a few inches above my sister. I came out like my mother in terms of height, right now I'm a few inches below her.

Ding! Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! The doorbell chimed and I quickly turned to face the customer. 

"Welcome Master~" I greeted in a sweet voice as I bowed my head. I looked the customer in the face only to see another of our weekly customer, Mr. Yamagushi.

"Good morning Mr. Yamagushi!" Yukina greeted, "Follow me to your seat, Master." The man followed her and they went into a common conversation of what he would like to eat and the daily special. I zoned out and stared attentively at the people outside. I used to be one of them, hanging out with my friends on Sundays, dressing up in crazy costumes and wild clothes but now I'm stuck helping with the family business  And we hardly ever get new customers. 

TWO HOURS LATER

More regulars and the occasional tourist had come and go but no new customers. Two more of our workers had shown up and were working the floors along with us.

"Is this the end of the family business." I muttered.

Ding! Ding! Dong! Ding! Dong! I turned to the door and a foreigner walked in. He turned to me and smiled kindly. His hair was Dark brown and cropped, his skin was light with a slight tan, his eyebrows were bushy in a way like a squirrels fur. He wore a white long sleeve shirt with a black polo shirt on top, a pair of maroon pants, and tan running shoes. There was a beige bad strapped to his hip.

"Hi my name is Matt. Do you speak English?" The man introduced. "My Japanese poor."

"Yes master. Here in Cafe 'Lovely' we speak both English and Japanese." I bowed my head, "Let me show you to your table Master."

"You don't have to, I don't need a table, actually I need to speak to the owner." Matt spoke slowly, as if trying to help me understand.

"Yes follow me, Master." I started walking to the back, "Father! Come here someone wants to speak to you!" 

"Yes, yes, I'm coming." My father came from the back door while drying his hands. "Who needs to speak to me?"

"This man says he needs to speak to you." I motioned towards Matt. "His Japanese is weak, so speak to him in English."

"What can I help you with Sir?" My father questioned.

"Hello, My name is Matt and I want to film some crazy dancing here on this cafe." Matt explained, "I am doing a video where I dance in many different places of the world. It will be a great promotion."

"Will it cost us any money?" 

"No it is free of  any charge."

My dad expression changed to his thinking face, he smiled and nodded. "Yes, we would be honored to be in your video." 

"Thank You," Matt smiled once more. "Gather all the maids so we can video tape the dance."

"Yes," My dad turned to me, "Go get the others and set up in the back." 

I nodded and rushed to gather the others. In total there was four of us excluding my father and Matt. 10 minutes later, we were all ready to dance, none of us could contain our laughter and excitement. We giggled and squealed.

"Okay girls on my mark, three," Matt counted down, "Two, one, GO!"

We all jumped, wiggled, jiggled and giggled. Our squeals were extremely loud. Matt danced wildly in between all of us. My father recorded us with the Camera.

"Stop!" Matt shouted. We stopped trying to catch our breath and continued laughing.

"Thank you all for your help." He stated.

"Glad to help." My father stated. He handed the camcorder back to Matt.

"Thank you everybody, I will suggest this cafe to everyone I meet." That was the last we ever heard of Matt.

About two months had passed and our business had grown exponentially over the past few weeks. We had gotten new customers everyday and new regulars. Although we don't know if this was Matt's doing or not, we have all the right to thank him. If it wasn't for him most likely we would be out of business or in debt.

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http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3006.html#takeshita

It could have been worse

It all started two and half weeks ago, Hurricane warning was all, over the state of New Jersey, Hurricane Sandy was on its way. Nobody panicked much. 'We were ready for this.' Most of us thought, 'We survived Irene and now we can survive Sandy'. On the day of the Storm, Sandy's wind blew on us tremendously. The trees swayed teasingly, at any chance ready to give up and let Sandy tear them apart. My dad had left work early and we were all in the living room. It was around 6:30 pm and we still had power.I heard an familiar ringtone coming from my room, i raced over and snatched my phone off the desk. It was Kathy.

"Hello!" She greets.
"Hey," I respond, "What happened?"
"My power went out a few minutes ago." Kathy stated disappointed, "How about you?"
"I still have power but it's been flickering." I respond.
"Well I have to go, Bye." She mumbles.
"Bye." I hang up the phone and head to the kitchen. 30 Minutes later, the lights flicker frequently. Then, they go out. We are completely surrounded by the darkness. I grab my phone and lighted the way to my mom. She grabbed some candles and matches  After lighting them we put them on the Kitchen table. A couple hours passed and many rounds of different card games were played. My mom decided it was better to just go to sleep. My sister and I got up to go to our room but our mother stopped us.

"You're not sleeping in your room," My mother had declared, "There are too many trees nearby and too many windows. You're sleeping on the couch, where it's safe."


I followed her instructions and put a pillow and covers on the couch. My sister slept across from me on the other couch. The next day, we woke up to a disaster. Trees were laying dead on the ground and wires surrounded them dangerously. The power was still out and the house had turned cold. We knew we were in for a rough week. The schools were closed, stores were closed and all the power was out in Plainfield. We spent the day loving our light, the sunlight, at night we lit candles and played board and card games.

Two weeks passed and everything was slowly getting  to its ordinary routine. The power was back in most houses, stores were re-opened and school was starting once again on the coming Monday  Over the week I learned how much I despise being at home with my siblings and how annoying they can be. I also learned to appreciate the seven hours that we are away from home at school. Hurricane Sandy, it was the super-storm that hit us, us in Central Jersey. It left us without power for two weeks and more. It left us without jobs and school for two weeks. Sandy shut down all major supermarket and minor stores. Almost all gas stations were closed and the ones that were open had a humongous line that was over half a mile long. Sacrifices were made and Sandy brought down our technology. It showed us how insignificant our precious technology is and how we are nothing without it.  Sandy shocked and devastated us all.