THE FIRST IN A NEW SERIES: THE ECLIPSE COLLECTION

Eclipse fidgeted in her chair. She never enjoyed visits to the doctor — and there had been many such visits in her short six-and-a-half orbit lifespan. Her parents had done their best for her, she knew that. They’d taken her to various clinics and hospitals but the result was always the same. She was deaf — completely deaf — and nobody could help her. She looked around and saw her mother, her father, and the doctor in deep conversation but she heard nothing as they were facing away from her. She giggled silently as she imagined the three as goldfish with mouths gaping. As long as people were facing her head-on, she could lip-read what they were saying but her parents were facing slightly away from her and the doctor had his back to her, making her lip-reading skills redundant.