Ludik and the Runaway Mountain by John Ilho

Mountains will move. Cities will fall. Worlds will shatter.

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. And it’s with a sound that my story begins.

With the earth-shattering thunder of a runaway mountain destroying everything in its path.

My village, my friends, my family. Gone.

I don’t care why it ran. I will find it. And if necessary, I’ll make sure it never moves again.