SWNOVELS Chapter 12
12
With no vibration, there is no sound.
“Shhhhh,” Dashet sounded, as he closed his eyes and concentrated. “Red,” he blurted, then shifted his head slightly. “Yellow,” he followed up with as a confused Sharissa listened in. “A mistake,” he whispered with a slight grin on his face, then, with eyes still closed, his remark “danger on the eastside,” sparked Sharissa’s inquiry.
“What are you doing?”
Eyes still shut, he responded. “Listening.” A pause of silence then another detection, “Straffe is annoyed,” he assured as Sharissa, still confused, searched and found, in the distance, Straffe. And she noticed that yes, he looked annoyed seemingly displeased at the fact that they were running low on dog food. Then she looked further and saw an artist finishing up her artwork with red paint and next to her was another fellow artist stroking with yellow.
“Here comes Jaelle.” Dashet said.
Seconds later, Sharissa noticed the husky Lab trot up to Straffe for her dinner. “How can—”
“Shush, just close your eyes.”
Hesitant at first, she tried, and what had taken a lifetime for Dashet to develop seemed impossible to her. She couldn’t concentrate let alone pin point specific sounds. She hadn’t a clue how to streamline her hearing skills in order to appreciate what Dashet could. The more she tried, the more she failed and the more frustrated she became. “I give up,” she resounded, impressed and depressed concurrently.
“Come,” Dashet beckoned as he rose, took her by the hand and led her through the maze of people performing their artistry. Trekking, she was amazed at how large the compound was. The painters, the musicians, the singers, the writers and the comics all had ample space as to not disturb one another. Ten floors in all, tall warehouse ceilings, walls of concrete and steel, full length windows and mirrors, and as he led her further away from the clamor of activity, she began noticing the faint sounds distributed from the floors above and below.
She began to wonder if each inhabitant on each floor held such a wonderful memory as her own having by chance come upon such a striking young man who swept them to a magical place that only just a few hours ago, she hadn’t known existed. Now she was ensconced in a cacophony of creativity and was encouraged and fully able to explore her talents and take them to unimaginable heights. They kept winding, continuing at a steady pace, not too fast and not too slow, all while allowing her to view the outside world through the bay windows they randomly passed.
One glimpse for instance, made her feel sadness for her parents. It was dark outside—bedtime—and she knew they would be tucking in with the thought that their little girl is gone forever. Then she glanced over at Dashet and beamed. Her chaperone to paradise eased her concerns. She received a smile in return before he leaned over and planted a short kiss on her cheek.
They slowed a little and again she turned and stared out a window, now wondering with all the horror that was taking place, why was she so lucky to be in this wonderful situation, comforted and safe. A final turn before they approached a door, a red one, and Dashet came to a complete stop. “We’re here,” he said as he dug a sole key from his front pocket and for the first time since they met, Sharissa clinched her fists and hesitated as she put into perspective the whirlwind events of the past few hours. All blissful, yet she didn’t know this guy. At all. She stepped back as he fiddled with the knob.
Sensing her trepidation, he stopped, turned, took each of her hands in his and comforted her. “This is my refuge within this refuge. My place to come and get away from everything,” he explained. “I don’t wanna give off any negative vibes when I’m around everyone but it can get a little overwhelming sometimes, so I come here to sort of decompress. This is my sanctuary.” He released her hands, turned back around and finally opened the door. He entered, then looked back at her with a soft smile, “You’re welcomed to join me if you like, or you can go rejoin the others. They’d love to hear you play again.”
She paused, knowing that once she stepped through that doorway, there would be no turning back and there was no way of knowing her future. She thought about the world with its demise and how she was probably already declared dead to her family. A new beginning with one step and the warm thoughts of The Sound Factory propelled her forward as she entered.
Sound-proofed and without any windows, once the door closed, the room, egg-yolk in color, looked invisible with only one long pillow occupying the floor. “Have a seat.” He gestured toward the cushion as he himself sat.
She joined him and they both got comfortable.
“When I was a little boy, in order to protect me, my family would rush me into a room that they had carved out underneath the floor. It was more like a hole, barely enough to hold two people. I’d have to sit there for hours sometimes until the coast was clear, listening to everything that was going on upstairs. That’s all I remember, just sitting there listening. It fine-tuned my awareness and I was able to separate all types of sound, but after a while, I started to hate it and all I wanted was total silence,” he concluded as he laid back with his hands behind his head. She looked around at all of the padding.
“This was Straffe’s. He really taught me how to fine tune my listening skills. He’s a master at it, so when I came along, for some reason, he took a shine to me. Like I was a prodigy I guess, and when he started to notice me getting antsy or a little frustrated at having too much sound around me, he led me to this room and gave me the key.” He squirmed, settling in more on the pillow, now half leaning against the wall, closing his eyes.
She observed his peace, quiet and serenity and thought, how can someone be the total opposite of the chaos that exists just on the other side of these walls? She scooted closer, wanting that same reality and rested her head on his shoulder. He kissed her head as they both settled into silence.