Dell's Journey

Chapter 20: Monster In Cave

The monster lives alone in a cave with a very lofty

ceiling. At the very top is a tiny hole that opens up to

the outside air. This is a good idea for any dwelling, as

exemplified by the teepee. Wood smoke, cooking smells, and

steam can all exit the cave through this hole. Plus, the

virtue of moving air keeps the cave cool and fresh and sets

it apart from dank or musty caverns one might encounter

elsewhere. The loftiness of the ceiling creates the sense

that one is entering a grand cathedral, a solemn and awful

room in which great and terrible things might happen. I am

not sure which of these criteria was chief in the selection

of the cave as home for the monster. But one should also

know that the shape and size of the cave accounts for one

more thing: tremendous acoustics. Sounds reverberate off

the rocky walls creating haunting, stunning impressions,

and the tunes that build from within ricochet and propel

one another in every direction, sometime even out of the

hole at the very top. Those creatures fortunate enough to

attend to the hole at the top of the hill covering

monster's cave are treated to a feast: the smells of

delicious stews and casseroles, and the sounds of the

monster's after-dinner playing.

As I said, the monster lives alone. Some have

suggested that this was not always so, but that once he

lived with a wife whom he loved with all his heart. This

wife, as it is sometimes whispered, died long ago of a

peculiar type of illness, one not at all common in our

country, and one that has a very peculiar cure. Allow me

to explain.

We have all at one time felt the impact of sound

waves. The lower frequencies, due to the huge arc of their

waves, displace a great deal of air, and thus are felt much

more often than the higher ones. Perhaps you've felt the

booming vibrations of a drum or a bass guitar at big rock

show. This is precisely it. Somebody has even proposed a

theory that the pyramids of ancient Egypt were built using

sound waves – waves so strong and loud that they were able

to move tons and tons of rock. I will not even guess how

they harnessed this power, or honed it to such a degree

that they could stack huge bricks neatly, but you get the

idea. The principle of sound's potential to move things

applies directly to the illness the monster's wife suffered