Everything was grand till he got the hearing aid. Up to that, he’d almost grown accustomed to his worsening disability. Sure, the ever-encroaching silence saddened him but he usually managed to make light of it. He’d invariably wheel out the story of how he first found out he was going deaf to anyone who’d listen. The consultant had apparently explained to him that his hearing loss was progressive and that the frequencies he was losing most quickly were the ones most likely to be in the female voice range. That tickled him no end! ‘There must be scores of married men out there who’d pay good money for a doctor’s note like that!’ he’d chuckle. He didn’t have a wife so it was kind of wasted on him. Not that he didn’t at least try to make the best of his handicap. Take his living arrangements for example. His flat was cheap because it was teetering over a busy railway line and anyone of more acute hearing would have balked at the noise levels. By all accounts, ...
'Monkey business from a guerrilla news agency'