Page 51 - TheRedSon_PrintInterior_430pp_5.5x8.5_9-22-2019_v1

first stairwell door, entering the hallway of the fourteenth
floor. The passage was dark and cobwebbed, so I crept along
like a spider, plucking at the shadows and silence, testing
the way ahead. Suddenly, the sound of a cracking whip
exploded into the hallway. A few seconds later, a pulsating
amber light made its way into the corridor, emerging from
an open doorway several apartments away.
Something advanced beneath the silence, displacing
shadows as it moved. Sidestepping into an adjacent
apartment, I disappeared into the null of forgotten places.
Music of some sort began to melt out of the air, blowing
softly across the hallway and into my hiding place. The
lights in the hall turned on, dimming to the weakest orange
glimmer, soon followed by the lights inside the apartment
I occupied. Eager to see what would come next, and with
my silence wrapped securely around me, I took the most
comfortable seat in the room and waited.
The music became almost tangible, forming a kind
of transparent membrane that settled across the room,
enveloping everything. The light itself blended into the
mysterious composition as the wax and wane of the tender
illumination transitioned into floating, glowing notes. The
cadence of my breathing merged with developing harmony,
and the movement of my very thoughts dissolved into
nothing more than an accompanying rhythm. I was being
consumed by the music, digested into a string of notes
within its trilling bowels.
I tried to think past the horde of deadly sounds, but my
every thought became a note within the widening theatre of
melodies. My only hope was silence. I could feel the hungry
music trying to master and devour it, but it was unyielding.
That area of the contest became the focus of my attention.
I listened as never before, to a soundless song only I could
hear. Suddenly, the rapacious sounds vanished from the
room, moving past me down the hall, still eating away at the
world by means of the music and melody.
54 | Mark Anzalone