The cat hissed again, its fur flared, and it turned and bolted down the hallway.
Dolly rose slowly from the couch, watching after the cat, and called out over her shoulder again, "Bill?"
Nothing. Running water in the kitchen sink. The clock on the wall seemed to have turned up its own volume, each tick seeming louder than each tock.
Dolly frowned, cocked her head, and listened to the clock. Tick-tock! Tick-tock! The sound seemed so loud that it almost drowned out the swish of running water from the kitchen faucet.
Something. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, whatever it was. She backed away from the wall, away from the hallway, walking in reverse towards the kitchen where'd she'd probably find Bill quietly sipping down a glass of water one polite swig after another, holding up his finger to let her know that he'd be done momentarily, don't go anywhere.
She rounded the corner in reverse, and saw that the kitchen was empty. The cupboard doors stood open. The tap was on, pouring water into an empty sink. The fluorescent lights cast an artificial light on the green-yellow kitchen tiles, making them seem more yellow than green now.
"Bill, you answer me right now!" Dolly called out. In two or three steps, she was at the sink, and she turned the water off. In the place of the sound of rushing water, there was only the clock and the dry hum of the refrigerator. "Bill, darn it!"
Panicking never got anybody nowhere, she remembered her mom saying. That was one of her mommyisms, one that Dolly only remembered when it seemed to apply. If someone ever asked her for a list of her mother's mommyisms, Dolly would have been able to give them a long list of them, only to leave this one out to be remembered later on. Keep your head screwed on right, there was another one. Don't fly off the handle. "Bill!" Dolly shrieked, alarmed at the urgency in her own voice.
Nothing. But where was Bill's pile of clothes, if what she suspected had happened really happened. Wasn't he supposed to leave his shoes? His tie? Wasn't there supposed to be a mound of frumpled clothing on the floor? The smash of the water glass on the linoleum when he vanished in the blink of an eye?
And then it dawned on her. The thing that she couldn't quite put her finger on while listening to the clock tick a few seconds ago, she knew what was strange about it then. The clock, the sound of the clock was still there. So was the fridge. The sound of water running in the sink. But Bill's breathing, his footsteps, that sound was gone.
So was the sound of cars occasionally passing on the street outside. The sound of airplanes taking off and landing at the airport in the distance. The sound of children screaming, lawnmowers, cell phones ringing, horns honking, ambulances out in the city, bike bells. These were all sounds that filled in the gaps, filler-sounds. The mind, she thought, doesn't even realize that these noises are there...until they're gone.
"Bill!" Dolly called out, her voice wavering on the edge of tears as she began to make her way towards the front door. Down the hallway, probably from underneathe the bed, Kitty answered in reply - a pathetic sound that reminded Dolly of the tone in her own voice right now. "Bill?"
Dolly opened the front door of their home and saw nothing. Cars stopped in the street. Lawnmowers stalled on half-mowed strips of grass. Bikes lying dead on their metal ribs on the sidewalks. Further down the street, there was an empty baby stroller with a bottle dribbling onto the seat. In the sky, there was a great contrail streaked in a straight line across the blue - a line that suddenly took a mad, jagged dip. Dolly watched as the jet fell, and when it finally dropped behind the skyline, she felt herself walk out onto the grass.
"What about me?" she called out in a desperate whisper. "God, what about me!?"
There was no answer. The earth had gone silent, asleep. The air seemed still, packed onto her too tightly.
"You forgot me!" Dolly screamed at the sky, sobbing. She sank onto the grass, falling hard onto her knees. "You forgot me!"
(your turn - sorry it took so long to get back...working on a big project at work and I was force to travel; something I dislike because I miss home so much. But hoo-hey! Here it is!
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