Bear the Astronot is perched on a dimly lit apartment patio brushing spider webs from his knee . “The world sounds different from the second floor,” he thinks to himself. He closes his eyes lightly in order to open his ears to the swirling sounds of the city. Above his head a helicopter pulses far in the distance almost in rhythm with the “clacking” of skateboard wheels across a winding sidewalk to his left. He can tell how fast the rider is going by the gap between sidewalk cracks. A compact vehicle speeds backwards from it’s parking space screeching as the driver quickly spins the wheel and propels forward. “Somebody just got in an argument.”
Farther back to the southwest kid’s are giggling at the pool, and he can barely make out their bare feet patting the wet ground around the pool. Dogs bark at each other holding a conversation even though 100’s of feet separate them. “The sky is dark tonight, and somebody is listening to Justin Timberlake.” He wonders if it’s a guy or girl, but that thought is interrupted by something exciting happening on the televisions inside his apartment. “Somebody most have just won something.”
He closes his eyes more tightly this time, and suddenly another layer of sounds becomes apparent. Bear is amazed at how loud the humming of electricity and background noise is. It seems to grow louder the more he pays attention to it. It sounds like all of the street lights in the city have joined up with the car engines and electronics in a perfectly timed attempt to combine all of their powers and blow up the entire metropolitan span of Phoenix. He starts to worry a bit as the static and buzzing grows louder and louder… It begins to sound like marching……but then………to the right………a baby cries………and his ears hit mute on the background noise.
The babies parents are discussing something of importance, but it’s not in English. A cricket is hidden in a bush below him, and a man is yelling at his girlfriend. Somebody arms their car alarm, and the wind shakes a piece of paper in the corner of the patio. “That plane sounds really close.” He tries to lean out a bit and gain a better vantage point, and maybe catch a glimpse of the passing aircraft, but isn’t successful. To be Continued…………..
Farther back to the southwest kid’s are giggling at the pool, and he can barely make out their bare feet patting the wet ground around the pool. Dogs bark at each other holding a conversation even though 100’s of feet separate them. “The sky is dark tonight, and somebody is listening to Justin Timberlake.” He wonders if it’s a guy or girl, but that thought is interrupted by something exciting happening on the televisions inside his apartment. “Somebody most have just won something.”
He closes his eyes more tightly this time, and suddenly another layer of sounds becomes apparent. Bear is amazed at how loud the humming of electricity and background noise is. It seems to grow louder the more he pays attention to it. It sounds like all of the street lights in the city have joined up with the car engines and electronics in a perfectly timed attempt to combine all of their powers and blow up the entire metropolitan span of Phoenix. He starts to worry a bit as the static and buzzing grows louder and louder… It begins to sound like marching……but then………to the right………a baby cries………and his ears hit mute on the background noise.
The babies parents are discussing something of importance, but it’s not in English. A cricket is hidden in a bush below him, and a man is yelling at his girlfriend. Somebody arms their car alarm, and the wind shakes a piece of paper in the corner of the patio. “That plane sounds really close.” He tries to lean out a bit and gain a better vantage point, and maybe catch a glimpse of the passing aircraft, but isn’t successful. To be Continued…………..
1 comment:
I'm not sure if Rodrigo over there actually read the post B. I'm betting the fact that he's selling t-shirts is a "no".
Good stuff though...I often sit and try to figure out who's coming up behind me by the sound of their gait, and I usually listen to the sounds of the movie theater before a show starts...all the popcorn munching sounds like rain.
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