See you loves,
D.
The Story of Hana
For my children, so they will know the ways to wonder.
There is a girl named Hana who lives with her mother by the sea.
Hana loves to take walks by the shore with her mother, they will spend early mornings listening to the waves crashing on the rocks nearby and birds chirping flying high. And in the afternoons, she will pick up shells of different textures along the beach; there are smooth shells, and rough ones. She will feel the surface of each shell with her hands, when the shell is soft she will rub it gently on her face enjoying the cool and smooth feel… after that she will place them inside her sling bag.
She would bring the shells home and
add it to her collection, she will give her favorite finds to her mother, her
mother makes and sells crafts in her small gift shop. The best sellers are the
colorful dream catchers and chimes made of shells, her mother will decorate the
dream catchers with the shells that Hana have found.
Hana loves this activity but is
always very sad because, there is one thing that she is lacking… no matter how
beautiful her surrounding is, she cannot fully see them, for Hana is half
blind. She cannot fully see how her mother weave the dream catchers nor the
many happy colors of their strings. When Hana was 4 years old, she had a very
high fever, and it had affected her eye sight, her sight diminished as time
pass by, and by the age of 5… Hana had became half blind.
Despite of this, Hana is a very
special girl, she have this unique ability to taste emotions and sounds and
tell what their colors are. You might ask how and why can someone taste a
sound, when sound simply don’t have taste, much more colors at all?
Hana discovered something odd about herself, it happened during the morning of her
7th birthday. She discovered
that she have special taste buds and special way of seeing sounds. On that morning,
she heard her mother crying in the kitchen. She walked slowly towards the
kitchen to ask the reason why. Her mother was cooking their breakfast, when Hana
came nearer, instead of smelling and tasting the aroma of the food that her
mother was preparing, she tasted something else; it was salty and bitter-sweet,
it made Hana’s face frown, in her mind she could see that the colors were dark
gray too and a little brown.
When she reached the kitchen, Hana
spoke to mother “Mama, I can taste your tears from here… why are you crying?
Are you sad about something?”. Startled, Hana’s mother quickly wiped her tears
away as if Hana could really see her crying. “Do not worry dear, the onions I
was chopping made my eyes water.” Replied Hana’s mother. Her mother thought and
wondered, how could have Hana tasted her tears, or maybe she heard it quite
unclear, so she asked Hana about this… “Hana, you said you can “taste” my
tears?”, Hana turned her face towards her mother’s voice and replied; “Yes, I
think I could… it was salty and a little bitter...”
“Well that is odd…” Hana’s mother
thought, “how can my daughter taste the saline from my tears?”.
Her mother walked towards Hana and
gave her a kiss on the forehead. “Oh my sweet daughter, what a funny thing to
say, now you made mama smile.” Hana looked up to her mother and said, “but I really
could mama, now when you kiss me, it’s a sweet kind of taste and I can imagine
it to be yellow!” Hana’s mother smiled, and hugged her tight… she wondered if
this is right, or maybe her daughter was just imagining it. Her mother turned
back into preparing breakfast and decide to set aside for a while what her
daughter has just told her.
After breakfast Hana and her mother
went outside for their morning walk by the shore, along the beach there were
lots of people passing by, whether to sun bathe or simply go by their usual
morning routines. They passed by a couple of neighbors, one of them smiled and
said hello to Hana’s mother. Hana turned to her mother and said “Mama, it’s a
citrusy sweet flavor!” that lady must be happy. Then after a short while
another neighbor walked past, stomping his feet with an angry look, “Oh, this
one tastes awful!” blurted Hana, “did that person look angry mama?” she asked. Hana’s
mother didn’t reply but in her mind, she decided that her daughter needs to see
a doctor. Hana’s mother was worried on this new condition… she don’t remember
anything that had happened the day before, that might lead to Hana’s ability to
taste sounds and people’s emotions.
At home that afternoon, Hana’s mother
called the nearest hospital to inquire for a doctor, a specialist that may help
answer her questions. She was advised to make an appointment to a child
psychiatrist named Dr. Andrea.
Dr. Andrea will help Hana figure out
what is causing for her to taste emotions and sounds. The doctor spoke to
Hana’s mother and settled a date for the appointment the following day.
The next morning, they both woke up
early to prepare to see the doctor. On the way to the doctor’s clinic, Hana
kept on describing to her mom the kind of tastes she has in her mouth: Sweet
and citrusy when someone is happy; bland when someone’s mood is down; chocolate
when she hears kids laughing; bitter when someone is angry, and salty when
someone is crying.
At the clinic, Hana’s mother
described to Dr. Andrea what Hana had been experiencing. Dr. Andrea was fascinated with what she’s been
told, this is quite a rare condition after all. The doctor told Hana’s mom that
Hana has developed a sensory phenomenon called synesthesia, a condition in which one can
perceive words and sounds in color and have a specific taste for the
sounds. The doctor assured Hana’s mother
that although there is no treatment, this
is not a condition that she should worry about. Dr. Andrea added that it is also
rare case because Hana is half blind… the doctor thinks that Hana might have
this ability all long, but it had took her a while to realize that she has this
gift. The doctor encouraged Hana’s mother to send her to a special school where
they can help Hana grow her ability. Hearing all this from the doctor, Hana and
her mom can now rest their minds.
At home, Hana tried to practice her
newly discovered ability, she played some music and described to her mom the
color and the tastes of the sounds. Hana felt she wanted to play a musical
instrument so she can learn more… her mom promised to help her and hugged her
daughter tight. Hana held pressed onto her mother’s chest; saw in her mind the
happiest colors and in her mouth the sweetest taste.
The end.
