He was not.
Then he was.
The change happened so delicately, so imperceptibly, that he wasn't immediately aware of the difference.
If you asked him in that moment, that moment of being after not-being, he wouldn't have answered you. Because to answer, it is not enough to hear. You must first be able to distinguish sound from not-sound. Then distinguish meaningful sounds from noise. Then speech from non-speech. And finally, your brain must be trained and equipped to translate that language.
So he would not distinguish you from the dark.
As he was.
Eyes nailed forward. Knees folded to his chest. Hands flat on the floor. A floor which sat empty a few moments before.
He stared and existed and did not discern.
Until he did discern.
A sound scrubbing at the boundaries of his consciousness.
Rhythmic. A rhythm. A hiss and rumble, hiss and rumble.
Waves. He was hearing waves crashing. And his consciousness said waves. His first thought in the dark.
He was hearing waves roll and rumble beneath him.
And not knowing where or why.
And that sparked his first emotion.
Fear.
(This week is Where's Jason week. I'm writing on location. Somewhere. And I'm exploring a scene which jumped into my head two months ago. It's a perfect location to do it. The picture was taken last night. How's that for turn-around?)
17 comments:
it can be an alien (trained well to human conditions) or a human, after a time-travel...
i have no idea, but i liked reading it. the thoughts and logic in it.
as for where's waldo, erm, Jason ;)
let's see: based on the texts, somewhere near an ocean is quite obvious. perhaps that's why you are not by the pacific, but who knows. you might be at some native indian location, to be able to put your hand on time's pulse, but again, those would be my choices, not yours :)
my suggestion is destruction island, or olymipic nat'l park; because i'd still go with the idea of the pacific. and because i loved being there, too.
your next post will make me see clearer :)))
sorry for the long comment :)
i will tell you where i am. in the darkness. thanks to you. if your post could be given a colour or a mood it could only be pitch black.
It's a dazzling pic...
Your work's always a welcome surprise...Nicely written... :) :)
Cheers,
MD
Missed on the "Guess the place" thingie...guess I got carried away by the pic...
Err...i know it's some coast but cant figure out which one.. :-D :-D
That was so cool! I loved the emotion-it fit perfectly. :)
Intrigued!
Cape May
To Everyone, sorry I've been scarce on your blogs. I hope to catch up at some point. With two kids, this trip is turning out to be pretty energetic!
Szelsofa, where's Waldo...exactly! ;) Oh, I like your ideas. I'll drop a couple more hints in the next piece. The most clues will be on the final piece on Friday.
Raj, that's how he feels. Yes.
MD, I really thought that picture wouldn't work too well, so it was a pleasant surprise. I didn't have tripod either. I just braced against a post. As for your guess, very true, a coast. :)
Oddyoddyo13, I love when the photo evokes the writing mood I was going for.
Laurel, kind of draws you onto that water, doesn't it?
Milly, good guess! We ventured a bit farther from Philadelphia, though. ;)
I've no idea where you are, Jason, but hoping you're taking the time to enjoy it.
That photo is absolutely beautiful!
dang, i did forget about the location of philadelphia and the (lucky) existence of a complete family with you.
i thought you were on some writer's escape - i see now why milly's a good guess and why the other coast is sort of ruled out.
:))
have fun there!
Love the picture! its ethereal!
So is the magic of the words written!
Wherever you are, it seems a heavenly place. The water seems mercurial. Love the dense surrounding your words create too.
Enjoy your trip. We'll be waiting. After all, its that time of the year again, right? :)
Not good at this kind of thing, it's enough for me that I enjoyed your writing. Great picture by the way, it complements the post beautifully.
A fabulous photo!
Oddly, I have a painting which is very similar, though not as good.
Your photo took my breath away for a moment. It is really beautiful.
The words that followed made me stop at each sentence and contemplate exactly what they were saying. It was a fun journey.
I may be wrong since I have only just begun to read your posts...but this one's imagery is very poetic.It creates a lot of visuals and transports the reader to another place....
As for the protagonist...he could be all of the things mentioned in the posts above and well he could be just a human only begining to become one in the real sense....
wonderful
Raine, yes, we're having a great time!
Szelsofa, the whole crew is here. :) Aine and our two daughters. Having all sorts of adventures.
Mona, yes, a cool picture!
Aniket, mercurial...loved that! Andn yes, it's that time of year. ;)
Petty Witter, no worries. I'll be surprised if anyone gets it.
Bernita, very cool! Good choice of painting.
Terri, definitely other-wordly on both counts.
Double Jeopardy, welcome! So glad to have you here! I appreciate what you said about the mood of the piece. Poetic is a good description. It's hard to nail down.
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