Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Hearing Fatality

Lost All “Senses” but One
I can no longer see shapes, sizes, or colors. Am I dead, or am I simply in a transition between earth and heaven or hell. My hands, legs, fingers, and toes have all become numb. No longer do I say I have any sense of sight or touch. I have found myself stuck in neutral. The blood that is trickling down from my head into my mouth sneaks past my sense of taste which tells me I have also loss my taste buds. It’s as though my tongue was ripped right from my mouth. They say fear in it self has a distinct smell, but I can no longer detect a smell of anything. My broken nose can no longer sense the fresh air, the gasoline, or any feeling of fear. My senses have become lost as if they were suffering a temporarily paralysis as my entire body resembles. I can only tell my story based on my hearing and recreate the sounds to place my listeners in the passenger seat as though I was on September 30, 2006.
Early morning no chirps from birds or calm breezes can be heard today. As I lie awakened by the yellow sunlight rays beaming on my skin almost close to midday, all that comes to my ears is a loud trotting noise. The noise continued to become louder and quicker, stomp stomp then a boom boom bam noise. Before any part of my body releases itself from sleep mode, I unintentionally interpret the sounds and the noises into hurriedness and a disorderly feeling. All at once, I lie there hearing everything in its entirety. To my attention an iron is sizzling. This tells me the iron is extremely hot and somebody’s dress attire became wrinkly from the suitcase. The shuffling and swish noise makes me aware that the other person is having problems finding an outfit to wear, and the loud guests in the hotel running back and forth down the hallways can also be heard. I realize that we have began to be faced with the possibility of being late to the game. Not too far behind the hurriedness and disorder, I hear Russell’s parents barging into the room yelling at him directly but loudly so that me and Tony know that what they are saying is directed toward us too. I’m sitting here thanking parents get on my nerves. I ask myself why they are here anyways. The little noisy racket turns to complete chaos in little to no time. I am still lying in the bed frustrated from being sleepy. All I am able to focus on are the comfortable sheets and the swoosh swish sound I continue to make while fidgeting in the cover. For the longest time I hear no one call my name or mention that I am in their presence, so I stay in the bed listening to a chaotic morning. In a playful mood, I finally arise to this bright sunny day. While I am getting ready I couldn’t help but play around. I hit Tony with a pillow behind the pillow carried all my force. It was funny to me and Russell. When the pillow came across his face, it made a whomp noise in a slow motion pause technique used by film makers. I laughed so hard I knew that this was the beginning of a great day.
We are all dressed talking and listening to one another. We each are able to hear the excitement in each other’s voice and the gur gur gur sounds all three of our stomachs are making. It is as if our stomachs are producing a multi-million dollar song. I notice our voices higher than usual because we are yelling to each other competing with the painful sounds of our stomachs. I still have a crackling sound from just waking up as if I have strep throat. When we leave the hotel room all that is heard is a loud smack from the door slamming abruptly behind us. I’m assuming Tony is mad that we are too late for the hotel breakfast and lack the time to stop at any type of restaurant. Wasting little to no time, all three of us hop into the little Honda Civic. Bam bam and bang are the sounds of the doors crashing shut. Russells parents filled with so much anger, leave us far behind because we are to slow for them. In the parking lot before any chance of hearing the gears shift, the radio knob is turned to full blast. In the car emotions begin to flare extremely high from the music. The speakers are loud enough to make a deaf person go deaf. The song plays a simple beat pattern. Boom boom ting ting clack is the rhythm pattern. I can hear every instrument from the snare, bass drum, and piano as if the instruments are all being played as one. There are no highs and no lows, just one blend of music thumping my eardrums. The car is moving as if the driver is under some kind of influence, but it is simply the excitement and the urgency. We pull into the gas station for snacks, where I and Tony switch seats. He insists I sit up front and he will get in the back this time. The streets in Atlanta are rugged and bumpy. I have never traveled on a road where I am able to hear each throbbing bump. We pull out of the gas station as if we are criminals being chased by federal police officers, increasing in speed by every second. We are driving recklessly but all three of our focus is only on listening to the vocals of the new Yo Gottie song
The destination is nearing as the beat flows through my ears and body. I begin to feel different. I am no longer only able to hear the music beat. I begin to hear the screeching of tires and a lump sound from the wheels hitting every other pothole. Why is my hearing intensifying? I can find no logical reason. My eyes look up and close at the same time as if I have fallen into a deep trance all of a sudden. I hear nothing but the strong fall breeze that is being let in from my window. After two deep thrusts of wind hitting my face sounding as if a lion is roaring in my presence, it all begins.
The driving gets worse and worse as time goes by for ten minutes, until we approach a light. At this moment life is becoming so clear. I feel as though I can see past the present reality and into the future reality. From some force beyond my control my eyes are shut closed. My body is frozen like an icicle. I hear speeding, the engine changing from a slight vroom sound to a quick powerful VROOM MMM noise giving me an uneasy feeling. As quick as nature turned quiet, reality became thunderous. I hear a clash louder than two crash symbols directly in front of my ears. I feel every vibration within my eardrums. The smack is so powerful my ears literally vibrate. The wind makes a swirling echo as if the car is inside a tornado. Again I hear a thud sound, one that comes from two metals coming into powerful contact. Immediately the swirling echo returns but this time for longer. I am able to block the swirling echo out and overhear the screams of terror by on looking civilians. I imagine myself at Six Flags on the superman rollercoaster, but it is nothing of that same feeling. There I hear screams of joy and adrenaline. Hear, all I hear is death knocking loudly, THUMP THUMP THOB.
My eyes re-open slowly to the music. I’m very confused. The same song is still playing from when I dozed off. I am in a shocked mental capacity until I notice nothing has changed. The car is the same, there are no crowds of people screaming, and there is nobody dead. Was this a nightmare or some kind of warning I do not know. If only I could understand, but I decide to thank no more of what I had just seen and simply let it become a figment of the past.
Less than three minutes after the terrible nightmare the car begins to pick up great speed but I look past it. The light clicks and turns from green to yellow and in a split second to red. I hear no signs of deceleration from the car. Could he be crazy, ready to make a suicidal and homicidal attempt, or is he playing trying to scare the hell out of us? I fail myself because I put my trust in someone other than myself so it serves me right. I can hear the perpendicular side of traffic moving as we approach the intersection as though we are invincible. At the speed of light, it happens. What happens? Déjà vu turns from a myth or belief to reality. I now understand that it was no nightmare or dream it was a vision. Knowing the dramatic events about to take place, I lock my body and brace myself with every bit of strength I have. Once again the radio automatically turns off by itself as some kind of warning. Maybe it signifies the end. The car is bursting between the yellow lines at such a grave speed than when we run the red light I am able to hear the speed and directly after I hear the collision. The sound of the collision is the same but different. The collision is ten times more painful and twenty times louder than what I had previously experienced. I hear the back end of the car shatter like broken glass falling from the sky. The car is spinning out of control with no intentions of stopping. The wind is feeling like the great Muhammad Ali punching my face with his favorite power punches. The wind no longer resembled a lion roaring in my face. It was more mystified as though the wind was talking me through the situation. It sounded like neither man nor woman, and at this instance I closed my eyes no longer believing I will be on this earth any longer. As my life flashes before my eyes I hear a scream from a man. It was a painful scream. The out of control spinning car has hit a man standing peacefully on the curb. He flies into the air and comes down with so much force I was able to hear his body bounce back up and then down again. The little two door car with anger smashes into a pole sending us on another violent ride that seemed as though it would never end. Glass from the car is breaking; the tires and brakes screech the street. Cars around us are making a scurrrr scerrr sound while trying to avoid the oncoming vehicle. Thinking I am dead I hear screams. The screams are so intense so saddening and hurtful that I know I am only in one place. I am in hell.
No motion is felt through my body. My soul I presume has been released from its cage. The screams are gone. I can hear no traffic, no words, and most importantly nature has ceased. Complete silence has struck me. The world is so silent that the silence has its own unique hum. The silence hum is so peaceful and still. It sounds as though it has no care in the world. My body stays there motion less except for my smile. I lie there smiling because I have been given a great gift. The gift of silence was bestowed down upon me, and I embraced it with much gratitude and appreciation.
Can sounds stand for anything more than what they are simply made out to be? I have found myself to believe that sounds are simple cause and effects that can be placed in the form of a story. Sounds have the ability to inform and paint a clear image as though it is a form of art. Sounds give us freedom and emotion.


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