She began to suckle the rubber nub, her cheeks working as the sounds of her suckling reached Mama’s ear and she let go of the binkie.

Rachel didn’t try to speak again, the binkie felt too nice to remove. She didn’t want to speak, she only wanted to suckle, and suckle and suckle. But she still didn’t like being touched and laid bare on this table so she squirmed more. Then Mama produced a set of plastic keys, one red, others yellow, blue, pink, orange and so on. Mama jiggled the keys, making them noisy. Rachel found their motion entrancing, the noises they made music to her ears.