Soundwalk

The first thing I notice as soon as I walk out of my apartment is actually how silent my neighborhood is at what usually is such a busy time. The rain falls gently into the large sized puddles of water that’s been gathering all day long. People walk by quickly seemingly annoyed by the rain, their feet squeaking from their wet shoes, each step they take splashing in the puddles of water. I walk further down 2^nd avenue and start to hear the familiar sounds of cars swooshing by one by one. The brakes screech and the tires slide on the wet street. I get a little further and find a handful of construction workers, one barks out orders at the rest of them. They grunt and curse back at him as they stomp one by one towards the subway they’re working at. I begin to hear loud tools crushing rocks then suddenly explosions coming from far beneath the ground. The ground shakes and a little girl shouts out to her mother as her brother lets out an innocent laugh.

I keep trekking down the road and begin to hear the faint sound of rock music. I decide to head towards it and as the music gets louder I begin to hear the sounds of people cheering along with it. I finally reach the point of origin and find it’s coming from a bar. A love band is playing loudly and the people inside are seemingly drunk. They scream at the top of their lungs over the music. The sound of glasses hitting others can be heard as they drink their beers and wines. A couple stumbles out and with the flick of a match they light up a cigarette. I can hear every inhale they take as they keep puffing on. The two begin to bicker then suddenly they start fighting over something the boyfriend has done earlier in the day. I decide to walk on and the further I get the softer the sounds of the girlfriend’s screams become. As I head back towards my place the rain begins to come down even harder than before. I pick up my pace with the rest of the crowd. Everyone is silent as they quickly walk towards their destinations. The rain is the only thing that can be heard growing even louder than before as it adds to the now giant puddles of water. Finally I get back to my place and happily get out of the rain.