I sit in my car parked in my driveway. It's late.
The only noise I can hear is the summer sound of crickets and cicadas talking and humming amongst themselves.
I close my eyes. More noises emerge.
The sound of the tv from inside my house, wonder what they're watching.
The muffled sound of voices from neighbors.
A dog barks
Some kind of car rumbling down the street
The rush of traffic from the nearby highway
The slight woosh of an airplane overhead
The crickets continue
I close my eyes and push away every sound,
And I focus on one. My heartbeat.
It's beating fast, uneven, grasping, holding on, fighting. It's losing.
I cannot control it.
So I close my eyes and focus on only the sound of it. And I wait. I wait until it slows.
Even. Steady.
I go inside.
"Hey!" My mom beams, "How was the party?"
I reply, "Good."
