Chapter 9: Synesthesia

Chapter 9
Synesthesia

“What are you doing? Yelling like that at night?”

A woman yelled at me from above.

I opened my eyes and stared at her. She was leaning out her window on the third floor. I couldn’t believe it. I knew she was above me. I knew she was on the third floor. I could feel it. I could see it. Her voice had echoed off the walls above me.

“You’re just a kid!”

Her voice trailed off, but it did nothing for me. I sighed and closed my eyes.

“What’s wrong?”

Her voice painted the surroundings in black and white. As it spread, I could see more and more. It reflected off the walls, their nooks, their crannies. I could see her building’s fire escape dangling above me. The voice traveled down, and I could see myself. My eyes were closed. I was only listening. But her voice ended, and the vision faded.

“Boy, do you need help?” she yelled louder in case I had not heard.

The vision returned. But the sound traveled further than before. It came in contact with the churning engine of a bus. My vision expanded. I began to see the city through the bus, and with each sound the bus came in contact with, my sight grew. Many voices and noises faded out, but if they continued, I could see more and more. And then, I saw a skull ribbon.

Something rested upon my shoulder, and I opened my eyes.

The woman stood in front of me. She sighed in relief. “Good, you’re not hurt. I thought you may be dying.”

“No. Not me.”

I stood up.

“Are you okay?”

“What does it matter to you?”

“Boy, that may be the stupidest question I’ve ever heard.”

I wrung my mouth.

“Just ‘cause I don’t know you doesn’t mean I’ll turn my back on you. The world’s hard enough as it is, so we gotta watch out for each other.”

“Hm.”

“What are you doing out here, boy?”

“Searching.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Almost.”

“Then get going. If you let it slip away, you’ll never forgive yourself.”

I remembered where the noise had taken me, and I ran.

“Crazy boy,” the woman laughed. Her voice faded behind me.

It wasn’t far to my destination, but as I said before, waiting feels an eternity. I arrived, but no one was there. Of course she wouldn’t wait. She didn’t know. Was she still alive? I closed my eyes and listened. Any sound would do. Any.

But none came. I was alone in the night.

“Grace!”

My voice flooded into the dark, but it only reached so far. So I ran with my eyes closed, shouting, hoping it would come across something.

Liquid fell upon my face.

I opened my eyes. I looked up, and I saw the rain fall. Weather forecasts didn’t say it would rain, but I wasn’t complaining. I closed my eyes, and I saw the city. I was everywhere at once. Roofs to walls to skyscrapers to houses to the streetlamps and people still out on the streets. An endless dream of noise and visions to decipher. But I only wanted one. And I found it. I found her. Beyond a few buildings, she walked with an umbrella in her hand.

But I also found something slicing through the air, diving toward her.

Text and Images © Jonathan Lee