Tommy was on the N train. A little girl across the aisle was screaming bloody murder. Her mom ignored her. Tommy walked to the end of the car. The screaming continued. At the next station, he got into a different car. The train took off. Four young men said, "It's show time!" They turned on their boom box and started break-dancing in the aisle. They shouted and clapped. Tommy walked to the end of the car. Noise, noise, and more noise, he thought. He got off the train at the next station. Standing on the sidewalk, he heard a brief, ringing sound in his ears. He looked at the traffic. He looked at some people talking nearby. He couldn't hear a sound. No honking horns, no voices. What's going on, he wondered. Have I gone deaf? Have I had a stroke? Please, God, give me back my hearing, he prayed.