The Sound of Life

Saturday Stories

September 23, 2017

I.

The weather was sublime at the beginning of the past week. I woke up early morning Monday and I wrote on my cellphone:

It is a perfect day to go out. It is also a perfect day to stay home. But whether I stay or go, this is a perfect day. This day is a miracle.

II.

Then the weather turned a lighter shade of pale as the days went by. On Thursday I wrote:

I never saw a storm this strong. I'm looking down at an entire city that seems covered in fog because of the relentless rain. I feel my whole being wanting to be out with the elements. I see myself running across fields of gold, with the rain soaking my body, and if I get hit by lightning and turn to ash, then so be it. I would love that.

III.

I really enjoyed what happened last Thursday night. It was around seven, and most of the other offices in the building were already closed. A friend at work and I were walking along the empty corridor.

"Did you hear that?" he asked as we entered the elevator.

"Heard what?" I asked.

"Sounds like children laughing."

"Really?" I said. "I didn't know you were psychic."

"You don't hear anything?" he asked anxiously.

I was trying to keep a straight face, but couldn't.

"Bro, you heard it too!" he exclaimed with relief, and then began laughing too. "I can tell!"

I did hear children's laughter, which I think is one of the most beautiful melodies in the world – it's the sound of life.

I was teasing him because it’s very interesting to watch people when they encounter things outside of their frame of reference. But really, I think those kids were from the insurance firm around the corner down the hall.

I can be too transparent sometimes. What a coincidence: I just told the same thing to another friend just a couple of days ago. I even mentioned being see-though like Casper who, in another coincidence, is also a child that most people cannot see.

I guess it also means I can't be in politics.

IV.

As for the rest of the week, I made couple of recordings at moments when I found myself alone at the office. The first is a poem by W.B. Yeats, Aedh Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, inspired by the movie 88 Charing Cross Road where my beloved Anthony Hopkins breathed life into it and made it something divine.

Also, I've just been asked me if I believe in Forever. I said, and these are my exact words: 

You're asking a guy who believes that the soul is immortal and that the universe is infinite; of course I believe in Forever – and that's why I found it.

The Sound of Life

Jose Maric Chan

Photo courtesy of BarbadosPropertyList.com