Most people call me Ludi or Lud, even though my name is Ludik. Or they do call me Ludik, but I can't catch the k on their lips. No, it doesn't bother me—being deaf, that is. Still, if given the choice, I would've gone with ugly.

There are many misconceptions about deafness, but the oddest to me is that we are void of sound, which is simply not true. Something I know all too well. And it's with a sound that my story begins…

With the earth-shattering thunder of a runaway mountain.