I went out of pratt without noticing that my earphones were on. Everything was quiet. The sounds around me were masked by a soft sponge. But I could still hear the whisper of bugs, people’s laugh from a distant place, PVTA’s honking… those with high frequency penetrated the sponge.
I took off my earphones and sensed a totally different sonic world: the bugs’ singing, people’s laugh and scream. Every sound was brighter. The most distinctive source of new sound was the water —— it was flowing at a low frequency, which was why I did not hear it with the earphones one.
Sounds extend the range of my sense. I can hear people behind me, the tiny bugs making small noises, things I can’t see.
And I got stung by many mosquitos.
—-Olivia Chen