The Sound

- Shh, hear that?
- I don't hear anything

- Something's moving.
- I don't hear anything.

- It's coming from inside.
- There's nothing in there. At least, nothing alive.

- What if...
- What if what?

- What if ...
- What if what? What the hell's your problem?

- What if we didn't kill him.
- What do you mean, didn't kill him? Of course we killed him. You saw him. He was dead. Dead, dead, dead.

- I know, but what if we made a mistake?
- We didn't make a mistake. And just to make sure, we have been here for how long now?

- He said 72 hours, just to be safe. Another 30 minutes.
- Great. This assignment sucks. This place sucks.

- I definitely hear something. Something is moving inside.
- You know what? I'm done. Nobody will know if we leave 30 minutes early.

- Hey, look!
- Now what?

- Somebody is coming.
- So what? It's just those women. They've been hanging around for days.

- They give me the creeps.
- First, you are afraid because you hear some animal moving. Now a couple of women are freaking you out. What's the matter with you today?

- We shouldn't have killed him.
- What the hell are you taking about? It would have been us up there.

- I just don't feel good about any of this.
- Okay, okay. Just to make you feel better, we'll look inside. Help me move this rock.

- Thanks.
- See? There's nothing here.

- Where's the body?
- Right there, where we left it.

- There's no body. Just a pile of clothes.
- That's impossible.

- Look for yourself.
- What the hell did you do with the body?

- Shh. Hear that?
- I don't hear anything.

- Can't you feel it?
- What are you talking about?

- It's like... it's like a presence. A ... I don't know, a softness, a gentleness, a peacefulness.  Can't you feel it?
- Those crazy women are back. That's what you are feeling.

- No, it's not coming from them. It's coming from, I don't know... here... there... everywhere. It's all around us. Can't you feel it?
- You know what? I don't care what you hear or what you feel or what happened to the body. Our time is up. I'm going back to the barracks. I need a drink.

- Look at those women. They feel it too. They look happy. They are smiling. Why are they so happy?
- Who cares. They are crazy, just like you. I'm going back. Are you coming?

- No. You go ahead. I'm going with them.

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Spiritual questions:

• Can you feel it too?
• Who are you going to follow?
• When?

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This is one of the Parables for the Spiritual but not Religious Series.

August 9, 2019 - This was written with the Roundhouse Writing Group in Santa Cruz, Guatemala, remotely from Guanajuato, Mexico. The writing prompt for the session was: Shh... Hear that? I don't hear anything.

The photograph of the mist is by Stuart Ruffell and made available through Flickr and Creative Commons, some rights may be reserved.

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