Not Not To Be
By sean mcnulty
- 214 reads
Huffahuffahuffa boom boomhuffahuffa
boom boom
huffa boom huffa
boom
boom
Maybe a filter was clogged up. Or was the problem the fuel itself? Had he been sold a hundred gallons of piss? No. Big PER would not have done that to him. He trusted the gargantua of the man. The Captain let Dolores cough on in the meanwhile and he would go have a check later.
While Littlewood pondered the possible causes of his beloved vessel’s erratic gasps, the others were gathered on deck concentrating on a different sound, though not an altogether different one, as it too had a breathy huffa to it: Stinson’s ‘voice’ had returned and when Father Geissel reminded one and all of Walter’s projected whispers, even the cynical Masterson listened with curiosity for revelations in the air.
‘It doesn’t sound like ice,’ said Stinson. ‘It has a human cadence.’
‘What does ice sound like?’ asked Masterson.
‘Crrrk-crrrk-crrrk.’
‘Catch yourself on.’
‘Sssh,’ mouthed Katrine.
And they listened. And this sound came: Huf
Then this sound: FaaaaFaaaaFaaaa
Then this one: Faaaa
Like a long human whisper.
Then this sound: CawwCawwCaww
Faaaa
Caww
Faaafaa
Cawwcawwcaww
‘It sounds like Fuck off.’
‘Not very polite,’ said Geissel.
‘Have you ever known ice not not to be?’ said Masterson. ‘It practically invented the cold shoulder.’
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