Flight - Ears Blocked After

A torrent of noise flooded in. The hum of the hotel’s air conditioner, which had been an inaudible ghost, roared to life. The distant wail of a siren, real and clear. Elena’s breath, no longer a ghost-tide, but a soft, rhythmic shhhh-shhhh against the pillow. The world snapped back into focus, loud, bright, and unbearably beautiful.

Weeks. The word dropped into his cotton-wool world like a stone. He walked back to the hotel, the city a silent movie. He saw a beautiful sunset, a wash of orange and pink over the dome of a church, and felt nothing. Beauty without the soundtrack of the world—the coo of pigeons, the rustle of leaves, the distant laughter of children—was just a picture. ears blocked after flight

It had started an hour ago, during the initial dip over the Alps. A gentle pressure, a dull ache, and then—nothing. A soft, cottony silence. A torrent of noise flooded in

He spent the night propped up on three pillows, trying to sleep upright. He dreamed of drowning in honey, of trying to scream through a mouthful of marshmallow. He woke with a gasp, his ears ringing with a high, pure tone that wasn't there. Elena’s breath, no longer a ghost-tide, but a

Elena was in the bathroom, the water running. He heard it as a distant, liquid rustle. He turned on the television. The news anchor’s mouth moved, grave and serious, but the sound was a low, featureless hum. He pressed the volume button until the number 42 blinked on the screen, but the hum only grew louder, more aggressive, like a trapped hornet.