Jason

Watching people laughing and goofing around in the water, brings bittersweet memories. Being grown up in a town along the shore, I used to love all sorts of water adventures. However, since the accident, I have never been able to bring myself to step into the water.

I woke up from the coma as an entirely different person. Everything about my past life only hurts me, because it only reminds me of my disability.

Unlocking the main door of my shop, and turning the open sign, I walk inside the shop. Owning a surf shop always had its advantages, one of which is easy access to water. But now I almost regret being here.

It is almost afternoon, and as time passes my agitation also increases. Some people don't know how to be subtle, they look in my direction and talks among themselves giving me pitiful gazes. I think they have forgotten that I have become deaf, I am not freaking blind to not to notice their so-called discreet sympathetic stares, making me feel even more pathetic.

Spending your entire life in the same place means, apparently everyone knows almost everything about you. There is no sense of privacy, your personal life can easily become the topic of tea-time discussion and you can't do anything about it. There was a time where I used to enjoy the status of being a golden boy of this town, now I hate being the center of receiving pitiful looks from these people.

Groaning loudly, I pick the mop from the back of the store and walk towards the front of the store. Some customers don't even bother to spare a few minutes in cleaning their footwear on the doormat, before entering the shop. I have honestly forgotten the count of how many times I have mopped the wet splotches of water from the wooden floor.

After mopping the floor, I gaze through the glass window of the shop facing the water. I watch waves forming from the center of the ocean then breaking into the small ones till the time they reach the shore. Everything seems just the way it always has been, but still, it feels different. It feels like I am watching muted television. Still, I can make most of the words that people speak, due to my lip-reading skills, but that doesn't mean it makes things easier for me.

When I started reading lips, I never imagined that a time will come when I would have to rely on my self-acquired skill...the skill which I have self-learned as a hobby during childhood.

Running my hand through my hair, my gaze falls to the ground and a sigh leaves my lips. Suddenly, a fruity smell mixed with the smell of damped ocean air reaches my nose as I inhale a deep breath. Diverting my eyes to the door of the shop, I watch a girl cleaning her flip-flops on the doormat while holding open the door letting the salty ocean air inside the shop.

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Thank you for reading.