[stylist] DBG chapters 2-3 (used to be chapter 3 and 7) Does thenew order help?

[helene ryles]

Lori,
That's news to me. I'm yet to meet a dog that can climb a ladder. When
we went out rabling some fields had ladders going up and down fences
so we were having to coax my guide dogs up and down that, or in some
cases just simply lift them up.  but then they were both guide dogs.
I guess dogs vary in ability.

 I had a chinchilla who could actually climb up the fancy rats cage.
He wasn't jumping, he was actually climbing and chinchilla's aren't
supposed to be able to do that either. Maybe he took lessons from the
rats?

Helene

On 18/09/2009, Barbara Hammel <poetlori8 at msn.com> wrote:
> he doesn't think we'll amount to much.  You wrote thing.
> Barbara
>
> If wisdom's ways you wisely seek, five things observe with care:  of whom
> you speak, to whom you speak, and how and when and where.
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: "helene ryles" <dreamavdb at googlemail.com>
> Sent: Thursday, September 17, 2009 5:45 PM
> To: "A private list for authors" <DB-AUTHORS at tr.wou.edu>; "bookel"
> <bookel1 at gmail.com>; "Writer's Division Mailing List" <stylist at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: [stylist] DBG chapters 2-3 (used to be chapter 3 and 7) Does thenew
> order help?
>
>> Chapter 2:
>> My life as an honorary Dragon by Liza Bronze
>> An essay written by Liza Bronze as part of her Q2 exam (Q2 is the
>> second highest school leaving qualification)
>> 5/1983 (14 years earlier)
>>
>> My beloved dragon, Talmon Bronze, bought me soon after birth.  He
>> bought me from some poor excuse of a man who didn't care whether
>> Talmon reared me or ate me.  Unfortunately the miserable wretch also
>> happens to be my father.
>> I am also a duman, which is a grey-skinned person who can’t work any
>> magic.   Our magic comes from the Daemons, who are immortal superhuman
>> beings with very powerful magic.  When humans mate with daemons they
>> usually inherit some of that magic, which is how witches are created.
>> My great grandmother is a Daemon called Parvi.  My father and both my
>> aunts are all powerful witches who have inherited their magic from
>> Parvi.  They are disappointed that my sister Monika and I have failed
>> to inherit any of that magic at all.
>> My mother gave birth to six girls.  Unfortunately three of them did
>> not survive past infancy.  My mother takes me to visit their grave
>> sometimes.  I remember visiting my parents soon after my sixth sister
>> died.  It was chilling how indifferent father was about her death.  He
>> was just angry with mother because he had wanted a son who could work
>> magic for him.  I felt it totally unfeeling that father should blame
>> mother for only producing girls, as if it was something within her
>> control.  It was especially heartless since she was so grief stricken
>> over the losses.
>> Father doesn’t like any of my surviving sisters.  My eldest sister
>> Madrella can work magic, but she came with mother as a step daughter.
>> Father has always resented bringing up another man’s daughter,
>> especially a man that he has had a grudge against.
>> As for Monika and I, he simply doesn’t thing will amount to much.   My
>> sister Monika was married to some thug who mistreats her, and I was
>> sold at birth. I am lucky to be alive today so I can prove my father
>> wrong.
>> When I leave school I plan to join either the police or the armed
>> forces so I have a better chance of rescuing my sister Monika from her
>> abusive husband.  After that I hope to have my father arrested and
>> thrown into jail.     I will liberate Mother, and we will all live
>> happily ever after with Talmon and a house full of dogs.
>>
>> I first moved in with Talmon when I was eight years old.  I used to
>> live in a signing Deaf community called Nassoli in Nazdonia.  I lived
>> with Shania who was my Nanny.   Talmon placed me there.  He had the
>> good sense to realise that a deaf baby would need a signing deaf
>> nanny.
>> There are so many deaf people in Nassoli that everybody can converse
>> in sign language.  I had lots of friends and I was really happy.   I
>> could speak a little and write in Nazdonian, as well as communicating
>> fluently in Nazdonian sign language (NSL).
>> It was a normal healthy environment, but it wasn’t good enough for Aunt
>> Beria.
>> She persuade Talmon to move me to his home in Druzil, so I could be
>> educated  orally in ‘the real world’ with lots of ‘real’ learning
>> experiences, like having to learn to lip-read in a completely
>> different language;  plus the racial attacks I endured for being duman
>> and of Nazdonian heritage.
>> I spent a lot of time wishing I was back in Nassoli.  If only they
>> weren’t so anti-dragon there.  My visits to Nassoli were regularly cut
>> short with me getting really annoyed and storming off.  I still miss
>> them, but I won’t tolerate anyone criticizing Talmon.
>>
>>
>> First I went to Druzil School for the Deaf and the Blind where they
>> taught me orally in Drasp.  My education would have suffered even more
>> than it did if it wasn’t for my aunt Arielle.  She can sign fluently
>> in NSL.  She taught me Drasp with the help of some really good large
>> print text books.  They were all written in Nazdonian on how to read
>> and write in Drasp.  Arielle was a great help while she was there. It
>> is thanks to her that I am fluent in both Drasp and Nazdonian.
>> I was just getting used to Druzil School for the deaf and the blind
>> when in sixth grade; I was transferred to a mainstream middle school.
>> I was very isolated there since Druzil is only a small seaside port.
>> I was supposed to be given a cued speech interpreter but he often
>> failed to show up.  The more sympathetic teachers used to write
>> everything down on the blackboard for me to read.  The other children
>> resented them doing that.  I used to get into a lot of fights over it.
>>
>>                  ***  ***  ***
>>
>> After a day of struggling to decipher lip patterns at school, it was
>> always a relief at the end of the day to go home to Talmon. The
>> wonderful language of Dramic with its telepathically transmitted
>> images is most ideal for the deaf.
>> As I got home I would visualise an empty bowl with a question mark.
>> "Fish and chips" I would sign.  I couldn’t see Talmon from where I was
>> standing at the bottom of a steep climb, but I knew he could see me.
>> I visualised a fat and unhealthy looking girl with a spotty face.
>> "All right then.  I'll have spicy bean pasties with Salad"
>> At that point a rope and harness would land at my feet.  I would slip
>> on my safety harness, and scramble up the side of the building, to get
>> to the door.   That climb keeps me really fit.  I think such
>> challenges are necessary in life.
>> When I first came to live here Talmon gave me fish and chips every
>> single day for a week.  When my aunts realised this they had a few
>> words with Talmon.  So now Talmon has a freezer full of healthy meals
>> for me.  He warms them up and serves them to me with plenty of salad.
>> At the time I thought my aunts were being really mean to interfere in
>> my dietary choices in this way.  As a health conscious vegetarian I
>> know better now.  As wonderful and considerate as Talmon is, he has no
>> idea what human hatchlings should be eating. I could have asked him
>> for all sorts of junk food if my aunts hadn’t put a stop to that.
>> Some people don’t share my love of the dragons.  They whine about the
>> lack of stairs in Darthrila, but climbing up the side of buildings, is
>> a good form of exercise.  People must be really fat and unhealthy in
>> other parts of the world that are run by humans.   Human leaders are
>> very corrupt.  They make a mess of everything, squandering a lot of
>> the world’s resources on unnecessary items such as cars.    Due to all
>> these cars the air in human-run countries is thick with smog.  This
>> makes people cough and splutter all the time.  I feel very privileged
>> to live in a country that is run by a dragon.
>>
>> My beloved dragon, Talmon saved my life on numerous occasions.   The
>> first time was when I was supposed to go out with this boy from school
>> called SH (which isn't his real name).   I was really looking forward
>> to it, as it was the first time I had a boyfriend. Thick glasses and a
>> couple of large bodily-worn hearing aids don’t do too much to enhance
>> one's popularity with boys, nor does being a duman.
>> I remember with a great deal of pain how I clutched excitedly at the
>> straps on Talmon's back as he took me to meet SH.  Then instead of
>> taking me to the desired venue, he turned round in mid air and took me
>> back home.
>> "Talmon, we are going the wrong way!” I shouted.
>> I saw SH with a group of boys.   I saw the evil sign next to his head.
>> This was Talmon's way of telling me that SH had evil intentions
>> towards me.
>> "I don't care if he wants to sleep with me, I‘m ready for that."
>> Next he made the confused sign.  I visualised an image of a girl and a
>> boy alone together, followed by a question mark.
>> "Yes, of course it's only the two of us together.”
>> Another image filled my head of a group of about 13 or 14 boys. The
>> evil sign again. The boys were waiting for me with eager anticipation
>> so they could all take it in turns to rape me.   SH did not intend to
>> stop them.
>> I spent that night weeping into my pillow.   Talmon came to comfort
>> me.  I am now very grateful for what Talmon did to protect me from SH.
>> When I went back to school SH broke my heart by spreading vile
>> rumours about me sleeping around with all his friends.
>>
>> The second time Talmon saved my life was when my evil half sister
>> Madrella and her first husband moved into the area. They moved to a
>> village, a few miles out of Druzil.
>> I had a dog at the time called Briar.  I met Briar on the beach, and
>> Talmon let me keep him as a pet.  Talmon got me a long foldable tunnel
>> made out of fabric for the dogs to use, to get them to climb up safely
>> from one floor to another.  It hooks up at the top of each trapdoor,
>> since dog’s can’t climb ladders.  Talmon even allowed me to make a dog
>> flap in the ground floor so I didn't have to keep carrying him up the
>> steep climb to the front door.    Talmon also gave me several maps of
>> the surrounding area and a magnifying glass to read them with.  With
>> the help of the maps, we would walk for miles around the surrounding
>> area.  Briar and I were best friends until Madrella caught him in
>> their garden.
>> Earlier that day, I took Briar for a long walk along the beach.  When
>> I caught sight of some holiday makers, I went to grab Briar, to put
>> him back on the lead.  That's when I realised he was missing.  So I
>> went around calling after him.  I looked everywhere.
>> "Hey Duman, do you want to know where your dog is?" a grey-skinned
>> girl asked me. She said something like that anyway.   I could not hear
>> what she said over the sound of crashing waves, so I only had her lip
>> movements to go by.   I recognised her as Madrella's sister-in-law,
>> Melissa Rickshaw.   She goes to the same high school as me but we
>> don‘t get on.  She’s the kind of witch who despises those that can’t
>> work magic.
>> "Yes, of course I do.  Why else do you think I've been calling for him?"
>> "You never know with Dumans what their motives are.  If you will just
>> follow me, I'll show you where your dog is," and she set off at top
>> speed.
>> "Hey, Come back" I yelled after her, "I can't follow you when you move
>> so quickly."
>> "Oh, I forgot, you’re blind as well as deaf and duman.  I would let
>> you grab my arm, but your hands are filthy.   I don't want you to soil
>> my nice clean dress."
>> I smelt smoke coming from Madrella's garden.  To my horror she had
>> some sort of carcass tied up over a fire.  He smelt of cooked meat. I
>> didn't realise it was Briar until Madrella threw his collar at me.  I
>> kept screaming profanities at her for a long time after that.  I would
>> have beaten the living day lights out of her too, if Melissa wasn't
>> holding me back.
>> "Your dog shat in our garden.  I'm not having that.  Dog dirt is very
>> unhygienic.  It might cause my baby to be born a freak like you. So
>> I've decided to teach you and Briar a lesson.   He's not quite dead
>> yet.  If you really care about him why not get him out of the fire...
>> You can let go of her Melissa.  I want to see what she does," Madrella
>> had been standing very close to me, holding my head up so I was forced
>> to stare into her face.  She moved away quickly after that.
>> As soon as Melissa released me, I rushed towards the fire, in order to
>> save Briar's life.  At that moment a pair of sharp claws dug into my
>> shoulders and I was lifted up into the air.  I had been so intent on
>> saving Briar that I hadn't noticed Talmon swoop down on top of me.
>> "Let go of me.  I need to get back to Briar," I told Talmon,
>> struggling franticly, but Talmon just tightened his grip.
>> I suddenly visualized a dead dog.  A clock face with moving hands
>> showed me that poor Briar had been dead for over an hour before I
>> came.  Madrella had been lying to me when she said he was still alive.
>> Talmon was not flying back home. We were flying above the sea.
>> We landed on an island.  Talmon licked the tears from my face.  I sat
>> clutching him for quite some time.
>> "Briar is gone.   I'm going to kill the she devil that did this to my
>> dog.   I'll make her sorry, just see if I don't."
>> Talmon made no reply to this.  He sat stroking my hair with his scaly
>> hands.  We spent a few days on the island.  Talmon caught a wild hare
>> for himself but I was too grief stricken over Briar's loss to eat
>> anything myself.
>> The smell of the meat nauseated me. It reminded me too much of Briar
>> after Madrella had set fire to him.  It was at that point in time that
>> I first decided to give up eating meat.
>>
>> A few days later, Talmon sent me an image of myself with a group of
>> dragons.   They were all happy to see me.  I was obviously one of
>> them.  Talmon was offering me a chance to become an honorary dragon.
>> I nodded enthusiastically.  I was so grief stricken right then that I
>> hated other human beings.   I wanted to disengage myself from the
>> human race entirely.
>> So Talmon took me to meet the other Bronze dragons.  They all came
>> over to stroke me.  I was given something to drink which made me very
>> sleepy.  I wanted more of it to drown out the grief I felt over
>> Briar's loss.
>> About a week later, they performed the initiation ceromony.  I am
>> forbidden from saying what exactly happened, but it was a very
>> beautiful experience.     I am so proud to be accepted into the Bronze
>> family group as an honorary dragon.   They don't always accept humans
>> in their private quarters.   They even alowed me to use their family
>> name instead of Slyrake which is the witch clan I was born into.   I
>> never liked being a Slyrake.   Bronze is a much nicer name.
>>
>> Chapter 3:
>> Why I rescued Nadia, by Liza Bronze.
>> 1986
>>
>> I was leaving Druzil general infirmary, when I first met Nadia Murat
>> (my niece) and her father.   Not that I realised who he was at the
>> time.  I just noticed a small timid man with a tiny malnourished
>> infant on his lap.
>> I spent a lot of time at Druzil hospital at that time.  The year
>> before I had my cochlear implant inserted.  After much intense speech
>> therapy I found the cochlear implant provided me with more
>> environmental noises then my hearing aid, but I still needed to
>> lip-read.
>> Today I had just come back from having a lens implant for my left eye
>> inserted.  The eye was still covered by a bandage, but I was hoping
>> that it would be as successful as the implant on my right eye had been
>> several months previously.
>>
>> I was looking about with my right eye when I saw a grey skinned man
>> with the same brown eyes as his baby.  The infant’s eyes were
>> magnified with a pair of Aphakic glasses that were attached to her
>> head with elastic.  They were the sort of glasses that I used to wear
>> before my latest operations.   That alone drew my interest.  I was
>> also curious because it is not too often that you see men taking care
>> of their own children.
>> I could tell by their long tunics and matching trousers that they were
>> of Nazdonian heritage.   They both looked quite battered and their
>> clothes were in much need of repair.    They were sitting just outside
>> the hospital on a rough camel haired blanket, and were surrounded by
>> their luggage.
>> I mistook them for homeless people so I reached out for some change to
>> give them.
>> “No thank you.  We’re just here while my wife gives birth to the
>> triplets.  I meant to book a hotel but there was no room.  I have to
>> stay here tonight.  I’ll try again tomorrow.”
>> “I wouldn’t bother with that.  We’re in the middle of the tourist
>> season so you have to book well in advance if you hope to get
>> accommodation here.”
>>     “Oh dear, we didn’t think of that. This was just meant to be a
>> holiday before my wife was due, but the triplets have decided to come
>> very early.  We hadn’t even booked into a hotel when my wife’s
>> contractions started.  We’ve been spending most of today locating the
>> nearest maternity ward.”
>> “I don’t live far.  You can come and stay at mine,” I offered.  I was
>> very curious to find out more about this pair.
>> “God bless you! That would be much appreciated.  I was very worried
>> about my son Nadir staying out doors tonight, as I’ve heard nights out
>> here are quite chilly. I don’t want Nadir to catch anything. We’ve
>> already lost one child.  I would hate to lose another.”
>> My heart warmed to him after he said that.  I was remembering how
>> distressed mother had been when several of my sisters died in infancy.
>> She had never fully recovered from all the losses.
>> After that, one thing led to another.  I let them stay for as long as
>> they wanted.  I even volunteered to baby sit for him.  Mr Murat was
>> very grateful for that offer, as he wanted to spend as much time as he
>> could with his wife.
>> It was while I was changing Nadia’s diaper that I discovered Nadia to
>> be female.
>>
>> “Why do you call her Nadir?  That‘s a male name,” I asked when Mr
>> Murat next came round to check on his daughter.
>> “Well, it’s a male child,” he blandly replied.
>> “No she is not male.   You can check her bits if you don’t believe me.”
>> “I will do nothing of the sort.   What kind of man do you take me for?”
>> “An idiot, all you need to do is…”
>> “Shut up!” he interrupted.
>> I tried to finish my sentence but found I could not speak a word.   I
>> hadn’t realised Mr Murat was a witch.
>> I asked him for my voice back using sign language, but he obviously
>> didn‘t understand how to communicate that way, despite the fact that
>> his child was profoundly deaf.
>> Mr Murat left while I was getting pen and paper out, so I could repeat
>> my request that way.
>> In the end I had to send Talmon to find him.  Talmon came back in the
>> early hours of the morning, without Mr Murat.
>> “Where is he?” I signed.
>> I visualized the image of a drunken Mr Murat, asleep next to the high
>> wire fence that surrounded our garden.
>> “Could you fetch him for me?”
>> I visualized Talmon attempting to pick Mr Murat up in his claws, but
>> being blocked by a shielding charm.
>>
>> At dawn I abseiled down the side of the house.  I was feeling
>> particularly irritable since I’d not been able to sleep at all that
>> night.  I’d been agitated by the spell, and my agitation rubbed off on
>> Nadia.  I couldn’t stop her crying.
>> I soon found Mr Murat asleep near the gate, where Talmon had found him
>> last night. I roughly shook him awake.
>> “I want my voice back!” I wrote.
>> “What has this got to do with me?” he asked when I finally got him up.
>> “You put a spell on me.  I want my voice back,” I wrote with shaking
>> hands.  I was incensed with rage by his response.  I hadn’t spent all
>> that time in speech therapy, just to have some witch deprive me of
>> speech altogether.
>> “I couldn’t have, I’m a duman.”
>> “Yesterday you put a curse on me, to deprive me of my voice, and then
>> you prevented Talmon from picking you up by means of a shielding
>> charm.  If that’s not magic, what is?  So could you kindly give me
>> back my voice?”
>> “I’m not a witch!”
>> I had enough of this.  I’m not normally a violent person, but I was
>> incensed with rage by this point.  I rushed at Mr Murat meaning to
>> whack him with the note pad I was carrying, but I found my way barred
>> by a shielding charm.  It was like trying to throw myself at a rubbery
>> mass; I simply bounced off and landed a few feet away.
>> “Are you alright?” Mr Murat asked me in some concern.
>> I pointed to my throat.
>> “You should be able to speak now.  I’m sorry about that.  If only you
>> would understand.  I never wanted to be born a witch.  Mother used to
>> get so upset whenever I worked magic, so I vowed never to do it
>> again…”
>> “You disgust me, you repellent creep! If only I could work magic, I
>> would be delighted.  What kind of man are you?  You were born with
>> this wonderful gift, and now you don‘t even want it.   Get lost!  I
>> never want to see you again!” I shouted.
>> “What about Nadir?”
>> “I’ll take care of your daughter for you, as she is only a baby and
>> can’t help having such lousy parents, but you can find accommodations
>> elsewhere.”
>>
>>                ***  ***  ***
>>
>> I soon discovered to my shock and dismay that Nadia’s mother was my
>> dreaded half sister Madrella.  One morning she paid me an unpleasant
>> visit.  She came storming over on her flying carpet as soon as the
>> triplets were out and she had taken time to recuperate sufficiently.
>> “How dare you seduce my husband, as soon as my back is turned,”
>> Madrella screamed.
>> “You got to be kidding! Your husband is the last man I’d sleep with…” I
>> said.
>> “Don’t lie to me, you miserable duman. The neighbours heard you
>> arguing and I sense his guilt. Now go and fetch my child,” She hissed.
>> “If your husband feels guilty, it’s probably because he put a spell on
>> me, causing me to lose my voice…” I said.
>> “You will lose it again permanently if you don’t fetch Nadir, right
>> now,” She threatened.
>> “Why did you give a female child a male name and lie to your husband
>> about it,” I demanded.
>> “There, I knew you were up to something. How dare you stir things up
>> in this way? You’ve slept with my husband haven‘t you. Why else would
>> you invite him to stay?” She yelled.
>> “No, I only invited them as they had nowhere else to go, and I was
>> curious as to why they were both covered in bruises…”I said,
>> defensively.
>> “Why don’t you just mind your own business? A parent has a right to
>> use corporal punishment when their child misbehaves.” She snarled at
>> me.
>> “I suppose you extend that right to your husband too? How do you get
>> past his shielding charm?” I asked.
>> “Has he been whining to you then?” she sneered, “As to his paltry
>> little shielding charms, I have a little spell of my own to prevent
>> him from putting that up. My magic is a lot stronger then his. Now you
>> better fetch Nadir or I‘ll…”
>> “Do you really think I’d return a child to an evil murderer like you?”
>> I replied, angrily.
>> It was after I said that, that she punched me in the face.
>> While I lay clutching my eye, she pushed roughly past me. I can only
>> assume that she went into fetch Nadia, since she was nowhere to be
>> found when I recovered sufficiently from the blow.
>> Madrella had punched me so hard that my left retina got detached. I
>> had only just had that eye operated on, so it was extremely delicate
>> at the time.  Madrella should have noticed that since the eye was
>> still covered with a bandage. I lost the sight in that eye.
>> Madrella was not even prosecuted for doing that to me.
>> To add insult to injury Madrella made false claims that she had caught
>> me and her husband in bed together, and for some reason Mr Murat never
>> contradicted her story. So whenever I did complain about what Madrella
>> did to me, I was just told I was ‘asking for it’.
>>
>>
>>                   ***  *** ***
>>
>> Four months later, Mr Murat came to see me again.  Talmon asked me if
>> he should allow him to come up, but I didn’t want to see him again so
>> we just left him there.
>> He was still hanging round when I went out with my dogs, the following
>> morning.
>> “I’m sorry!” He cried wringing his hands in a truly dejected manner.
>> “So you should be.  After all the trouble you got me into, when we last
>> met.”
>> “Please Liza, I’ve made a big mistake, but I’m really sorry about
>> that.    I want to know if you will agree to take Nadir in.  My wife
>> doesn‘t understand his needs.”
>> “Oh really, and you‘ve only just noticed!”
>> “Please! My wife gets so angry you see.  I had to rush my daughter
>> Zakia to the hospital today, but she died before we got there…” Mr
>> Murat told me, wiping away a tear.
>> “Oh… I see… What happened to the other two triplets?” I asked, my
>> voice softening. Despite all that had happened I couldn’t stay mad at
>> the wretch at a time like this.
>> “They are with a relative of my wife, called Arielle Parvesh.  She
>> offered to take care of all three triplets because my wife wasn’t
>> interested in them.  She was told they were going to be boys, but the
>> doctor obviously made a mistake.”
>> “Why didn’t you let Arielle look after all of them for you?”
>> “They are my daughters.  I was hoping if I introduced them to Madrella
>> one at a time, she would feel as much warmth for them as I do…  I made
>> a terrible mistake, and now one of them has died,” and with that Mr
>> Murat put his head in his hands and burst into tears.
>> In the end I invited him in.  When he calmed down he told me what had
>> happened two days before.
>>
>> It was during an argument over how the money for Nadia’s cochlear
>> implant was to be raised, that little Zakia died.
>> Mr Murat sat bottle feeding Zakia.  Ever so often he glanced anxiously
>> at his wife Madrella, who sat painting her toenails.  She dressed in
>> gaudy see-through clothes that Mr Murat never approved of, but his
>> wife obviously had the upper hand in their relationship.
>> Just then little Nadia tottered towards them.  She mimicked being fed.
>> Madrella sprang to her feet, boxing Nadia’s ears.  Mr Murat put Zakia
>> into her cot and picked little Nadia up, so he could comfort her.
>> “He’s supposed to say food.  Not make those dreadful signs.  The
>> sooner the money is raised to make the dratted brat hear again the
>> better,” Madrella hissed.
>> “He is asking for food in his own way.  You should accept the way he is.”
>> “Definitely not,   I must say I’m really disappointed that you wasted
>> good money on all those eye operations for the triplets, when they are
>> only girls.  We are already in dept for that and we haven’t even
>> started raising money for Nadir’s cochlear implant yet. Don‘t you dare
>> pull out, because if you do...”
>> "Don’t worry dear; we will get the money together for Nadir's cochlear
>> implant.  Your aunt Beria's offered to help me get the money together
>> in exchange for one of my legs. She wants it for her dragon to eat.”
>> "No, you foolish man, I'm not having you sacrifice your leg.  The
>> triplets..."
>> "I've thought of the triplets too.  I have an aunt who lives near a
>> school for the Deaf in Nassoli.    She is happy to take care of the
>> triplets while they are at school, in exchange for some gold jewellery
>> and electronic goods.  The school fees will be low as the school is
>> funded by a charitable organisation for the Deaf overseas..."
>> "Ah, but will they get an oral education there? I want them to get
>> lots of speech therapy. None of that signing that I see the deaf in
>> Nassoli make."
>> "Dearest Madrella, we must not interfere in the will of god. If god
>> wants them to sign, we have to accept that.”
>> "God doesn't come into this, you religious idiot.  I don't want
>> anything to do with Deafblind triplets.  My sisters Monika and Liza
>> were bad enough.  I had mother all to me before Monika came along and
>> spoilt it all."
>> "But Madrella, the triplets are gods gift to us," Mr Murat exclaimed in
>> horror.
>> "Well god can have them back then.  Why don't you let me sell the
>> little freaks instead of selling your leg?”
>> “No, I would rather lose a leg or two then sell any of my precious
>> children.  Besides there is no way a set of deafblind triplets will
>> make much money…”
>> “They might fetch a good price at a freak show.  They would have done
>> even better if you hadn't removed the cataracts.”
>> "No!"
>> "Well in that case we could just kill them all and sell their organs
>> abroad."
>> “Oh Lord! What kind of monster have I married?”
>> Before Mr Murat could stop it happening, Madrella grabbed hold of
>> Zakia and began to shake her.
>> Mr Murat snatched the unconscious baby out of Madrella's hands.  He
>> tucked her in a baby sling, before hurriedly saddling and mounting his
>> camel.
>> The air outside was thick with sand that was blowing everywhere.  He
>> struggled through the lethal weather conditions, to get to the nearest
>> hospital in Keraina, which is half a day’s ride by camel.   Due to the
>> shaking,  the long journey and unfortunate weather conditions, Zakia
>> died several hours before getting anywhere near the hospital.
>> Mr Murat took Zakia’s body to my father’s house in Keraina, and then
>> crossed the borders into Darthrila.   He waited at Keraina railway
>> station, so as to catch the first morning train into Druzil.
>>
>> Of course I just had to take Nadia after he told me all this.   We
>> hatched plans as to how to smuggle Nadia out.  Only he never went
>> through with the plans.  I waited for days to no avail.   He simply
>> never brought her to me.
>>
>> The next time we met, it was by chance at the local hospital again. I
>> had just had another appointment at my eye specialist.  The doctors
>> had not been able to reattach my retina.  Now my sight in the other
>> eye was giving me problems too.  This was very concerning.   As a deaf
>> person I depend heavily on my sight.
>> Now, I was due for appointment at the same hospital.  This one was
>> with the audiologist, for a check up with my cochlear implant.  The
>> two appointments would take all day. It was while I made my way to my
>> next appointment that I met Mr Murat.
>> I nearly didn't recognise Mr Murat as he only had one leg and was
>> struggling down the corridor on a pair of crutches.
>> "What happened?" I asked in concern.
>> "It's all right; everything has been sorted out now.  I've had my leg
>> amputated and Nadia's just had her cochlear implant put in."
>> I had to ask him to repeat himself several times since I was having
>> problems taking all this in.  I peered in his face in order to
>> Lip-read and turned up my speech processor as far as it would go.
>> "I don’t understand. We arranged for me to take care of Nadia.  I
>> already told you that I won't implant her yet..." I replied, after a
>> stunned silence.
>> "That was rather silly of me.  My wife is so sorry about Zakia's
>> death. It was all a tragic accident.  She didn't mean to hurt
>> Zakia..."
>> "That's not what you told me before."
>> "I was upset, and may have exaggerated things a little in my grief.
>> Everything is as it should be.  My wife would never dream of hurting
>> Nadir.  She is desperately keen to keep him with her.    Now I must
>> dash, I'm on my way to see Madrella at the local police station."
>> "So she's been arrested.  Thank goodness for that."
>> "Only for the night, Beria assured me that she should be out today..."
>> "What happened?"
>> "My wife was a little put out when the cochlear implant failed to
>> work, so she started being a little silly with the staff that works
>> here.  They called the police and they took her away in one of their
>> electro-pedal driven vans.  Now a nice doctor has explained to me that
>> the cochlear implant doesn't work immediately after it‘s put in.  You
>> have to wait until it's been activated before Nadir can hear anything
>> at all.  Unfortunately little Nadir will never be able to hear
>> normally.  They don‘t even know how well it will work since cochlear
>> implants are still considered an experimental procedure as far as
>> children are concerned.  The doctor is hopeful though, that he should
>> manage speech after we've sorted all the speech therapy out.  Now I
>> must dash.  Come tomorrow.  I'll discuss things with you then."
>> And with that he was gone.  He left me quite speechless by his idiotic
>> behaviour.
>> I felt too disgusted with Mr Murat to meet him the following day.   I
>> made other plans to rescue Nadia with the hospital staff.  I found
>> them very accommodating since they had their own grievances as far as
>> Madrella was concerned.  I only hoped Talmon Bronze would be able to
>> protect me when Madrella had discovered Nadia‘s absence.
>>
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