The night the Rhymer went whack

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Nick not only heard sound: he felt it, saw it, smelled it and tasted it.

So Nick took his strength away, stripping his powers and normalizing his existence. Upon awakening, he thought he would be prepared to face the world and easily adapt to his soundless environment, but the fear of the unknown gripped him. That night’s sleep was an oasis of peace as he steadily struggled to adjust. With no defense, the world now startled him. First his mom, her immediate presence was always a surprise. Not knowing when she was approaching, he’d scream when she entered the room.

Of course, he couldn’t hear himself and that even brought worry. She hadn’t agreed with him covering his ears, and upon first seeing it, she was furious. While she was yelling, he kept pointing to his ears uttering, “I can’t hear you,” and every time she reached to touch them, he’d slap her hand away. Her displeasure lasted a few days until he explained to her that his hearing was beginning to depress him. A lie, but it brought sympathy and his explanation eased her concerns.

She had to learn how to approach her son knowing it startled him and his deafening screams simply terrified her. She mainly worried that, in the event of a tragedy or if she somehow became incapacitated, he would be vulnerable, so she searched for a solution and soon came up with an idea. Light.

They ensconced their apartment in darkness, pitch black at night and just enough in the daytime as to when she turned the lights on, he would be alerted to her presence. This worked like a charm because the darkness had been scaring him more ever since. When he closed his eyes, he became mute and this triggered insomnia, but the comfort of knowing light would come, bringing with it his mom, eased his fears and soon he was able to sleep somewhat soundly again.

Yet he still sat at his window, out of habit mostly, but finally, he sensed the world differently. At first he just stared, focusing on developing a more precise visual aspect of life, but one day there was an explosion nearby. A gas tank blew, burning down an entire block. The fireball he witnessed torched the sky amazing him with a sight he had never seen before but more importantly a feeling he had never felt. Although he couldn’t hear it, he felt the impact rippling his skin. Minutely but noticeably present, tickling the hairs on his neck and arms. Then minutes later, a second explosion sent a more massive flame cloud skyward, and, with anticipation, Nick felt a surge physically and emotionally.

Bass did it. The rumbling. He had learned that that explosion’s feeling was similar to when he would listen to music at a high volume. Although he primarily listened to the tunes, he remembered the feeling of the music against his skin, rustling his hairs and sending shivers down his spine. He had thought the feeling was internal but in actuality, it wasn’t. So, now he turned on his music and sat in front of the speaker adjusting the sound and feeling each beat.

This was simple since he could no longer hear and he quickly caught on, soon learning each song that he played just by its feel. His confidence grew so he began incorporating his mom by having her select a tune and he’d shout out the song she just played, all by feel.

He deciphered the bass fine, but it was the treble and mid ranges that caused him trouble. He couldn’t feel them. He couldn’t distinguish those wavelengths. Nothing. And months later, still nothing. Since learning and mastering his gift, Nick had gained a sense of invincibility, nothing he had ever set out to do was ever not accomplished. He knew his abilities were far superior to others. That made him feel unique and special, so this failure troubled him. Sulking for months, he finally resigned to the fact that he would never be able to feel those beats. Impossible was his conclusion. But his mom was paying attention to his situation and noticed the pain in her son amidst his desperation to feel all sounds.

She also knew Chladni, ironically, one of her mates at the compound, had showed her he was deaf, but as a result of the plate effect, he was able to jam and dance with everyone else. So, with no sand present, she retrieved a jar of sugar then grabbed a thin black scarf. She found a drum then meticulously removed the animal skin and with the same care, replaced it with the scarf. She glanced over and saw Nick by his window fiddling with a speaker still trying to feel those wavelengths. Her movements piqued his curiosity as she unplugged another small speaker and placed it under the drum.

She turned it on and watched the amazement in her son’s face smiling then bursting with laughter as he witnessed sound through the choreographed display of the dancing sugar grains. He saw the shapes and designs taking form as she adjusted the equalizer. Each megahertz and each tune had its own shape and the higher the pitch the more vibrant the display. Spectacularly stunned, Nick sat grinning from ear to ear now adjusting the sound himself and witnessing the results.

Bach, Mozart, Pavarotti, Donna Summer, The Doors, Archie Roach, Solomon Linda, Claude Debussy, Bob Marley, The Jackson Five, Prince, Augustin Lara and Monet were just a minute sample of Nick’s vast knowledge of music. Ever since he was a baby he was established in it. Music was his life, his fiber and his existence, so he now eagerly played each song and watched it take shape. He didn’t need to feel it, for now he could see it, memorizing each shape and matching it to each specific pitch. A whole new world opened to Nick as he discovered sound in an entirely different form.

He viewed Boogie Wonderland, his favorite song, mesmerized by the horns, percussions and vocals, now in ecstasy seeing those patterns rhythmically taking shape with each beat. He continued “listening” to music from different parts of the world and marveled and how the sounds even visualized their specific culture and heritage. Sad songs looked like sadness but the joy in the big bands sent those crystals jumping!

The Chladni experiment had been around for ages, tried and tested for its accuracy, but Nick took it to a whole new level. Composing new images with sounds not achieved on a human level. He studied the complexity of trebles and began adjusting them and creating higher pitches. Sound could only be recorded through its wavelengths, but patterns could be infinitely created. And thus began Nick’s new quest.