Mute

A new sound?

_____

"Creation-time, the universe, people.

"Was sound created?"

The Big Bang... could it have banged with a sound?

While creation was happening, it must have been full of sound.

And now... all I hear is silence. Yet the silence is loud, because I can feel it.

Where is she? The girl. Who is she?

She is graced with this sound of music.

But she... she sits somewhere in the clouds, deaf and dumb"

_____

Arielle leaned forward, enthusiasm shining. "What's singing like?"

Benita's eyes wandered again. Arielle noticed the mixture of confusion and effort in her sister's gaze. It was this openness, this attempt to explain what she herself didn't fully understand, that made Arielle feel a little closer to her.

"I... can't really say," Benita admitted softly. "It's... music."

Arielle frowned, puzzled.

Seeing her sister's confusion, Benita hurried to illustrate, hoping the analogy would make sense. She picked up the teapot and poured imaginary strawberry tea into Arielle's cup, carefully, deliberately.

"The birds' singing... it sounds like strawberry tea," she said gently, almost reverently.