hum

fiction

Susan was alone when half the town heard the hum. Her children were out in the yard. Her husband was at the factory. She was behind her locked bedroom door. It was nine in the morning and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Martin Jr. and Dolores were swinging. Dolores heard it through the noise of creaking chains before her older brother. When it reached its peak volume Martin Jr. realized it had been invading his senses all along. The noise forced their heads up, rending their eyes to the sky. Martin Sr. was late to work and only just clocking in when the note crept into his one good ear. On the factory floor, only a fourth of his employees kept their eyes on their work. As the lines started backing up, they first looked to their neighbors and when the unafflicted saw all the heads cast toward the ceiling glanced upwards themselves. When those with control saw nothing of interest, they returned to their work, what of it they could do with production backing up.

The sound kept at its peak volume for 3 minutes and 9 seconds, not that anyone counted. Those who could hear it couldn’t look away from the sky, and those that couldn’t hear had nothing to measure.

Susan finished during the hum and left her hand under her slip. Martin Sr. wasn’t a bad man, but she couldn’t bear him anymore. She had been 17 when he returned home from Germany, only two years older than her, but infinitely more aged by the terrors he had experienced. He had wanted to settle down immediately, put those moments behind him. He met Susan when she came over to the Bannon home to study with his little sister. He wanted to take her by the back of her wavy blonde head and kiss her red lips immediately, but he didn’t until the second date. He had sat on the couch reading, rather, pretending to read. He had only sat in the spot because it offered a clear view to where Susan sat at the dining room table and he wanted to take in her porcelain features from every angle. He knew he loved her the moment a shadow fell on half her face but that eye was still sparkling. As she got ready to leave he asked her out for a date that Friday night. She didn’t have a reason to say no, but even if she had, even if she lied that she had plans had a steady boyfriend had anything that could get her to say no, he would have badgered until he found the way to a yes. So she said yes. That’s just how it was. After the third date when he asked her to marry him her life flashed before her eyes, she knew it would lead to moments like this, alone in her home with her hand under her dress dreaming of an out, but she still said yes. That’s just how it was.

As she was getting dressed, Susan heard the children coming in from the backyard. She unlocked her door and met them in the kitchen. They didn’t say anything about the hum. No one mentioned the hum for the rest of the day. Those that saw the effect it had on people questioned that vacant gaze, but none of the affected knew what they were referring to. Susan didn’t know anything about the phenomenon until dinner that night.

The Bannons were having their neighbors over for dinner. It was a ritual they had established with the Roths. The Bannons would host on the first Friday of the month and the Roths returned the favor in the middle of the month on Sunday. Susan had suggested to Martin Sr. as she washed the dishes one night that they should invite the new neighbors over, as it had only been a year prior that the Bannons themselves had moved into the house and they remembered the stinging lack of hospitality they felt upon their arrival in the neighborhood. Susan took a pie over the next morning and was greeted at the door by Juliet. She’ll never forget the first time she saw Juliet Roth. Juliet with brown curly hair. Juliet with coke bottle glasses. Juliet with Juliet with Juliet. Juliet took the pie and the invitation with enthusiasm, her husband would be so happy to have friendly neighbors. Susan counted down the days till they came over.

It had been two years since that first interaction. During that time the families had drawn close together. When Juliet delivered Christopher the next year, the Bannons had been his first visitors and supplied the Roths with food and care. Martin Sr. and Jim Roth became fast friends and collaborators on household projects. Part of Susan dreaded that reality because it meant she had to continue watching at Juliet finding fulfillment. But each time their hands brushed while doing the dishes she realized she wouldn’t have traded Juliet as this tiny part of her life for anything.

The last dinner together had been at the Roths. A roast chicken, simple but elevated by Juliet’s skill. As the two of them cleaned, Jim had pulled Martin Sr. into the garage to see his latest project. Juliet and Susan made each other laugh as always, but when they both reached for the soap Susan froze at Juliet’s touch. Juliet didn’t pull her hand away, instead she turned and put her free hand into Susan’s blonde waves and pulled her into a kiss.

Juliet pulled away when she heard the door open. As the men’s voices filled the house she whispered to Susan, “I love you so much.”

Susan hadn’t replied and she was afraid Juliet was left with regret.They hadn’t seen each other since. The week before the Roths were due over, she probed Martin Sr. about projects he could show Jim, trying to ensure the girls would have alone time. She practiced what she would say when they were left alone.

Juliet was the one to bring up the effects of the hum. She had been checking out at the grocery store when her cashier’s head tore from facing her towards the ceiling. She’d seen half the people in the store do the same. Christopher had been crying and the lack of attention given to him by everyone else shocked her because it was as if no one could hear him. As the rest of the dinner party stared at her, she joked about having the opportunity to steal all her groceries. No one laughed, not just because she hadn’t sold the joke well, but because Martin Sr. was realizing maybe his employees weren’t lying about that moment while Jim and Susan were concerned because they hadn’t noticed anything. Juliet quickly shifted the conversation to the food and then the talk flowed better, but never without the hint of fear.

After they had finished eating the men immediately went to the garage, and the kids were sent to bed. Juliet had brought Christopher into the kitchen because he had started crying as soon as her and Susan had finished collecting the dishes.

“Susan,” Juliet started saying before Susan cut her off.

“I love you too,” Susan said. She watched as Juliet looked down, her hair fell into her face, but Susan could still see her flush. When Juliet looked up Susan took a step toward her and with the baby between them Juliet pulled Susan back into a kiss.

It was while they kissed that it happened. They only saw the aftermath, but many of the survivors had first hand accounts of how the heads of those who had heard the hum imploded. Susan had only pulled away because she had heard what she thought was a watermelon exploding down the hall. She ran to see what had happened and saw Dolores’ body flat on the floor, her brains splattered on the walls of the hallway, a spray of blood where her head was supposed to be.

“Martin!” She yelled, not specifying which one. Not that it mattered, neither would have been able to hear, seeing as their heads had turned into a pink mist. She pulled open the kids bedroom door and saw the mess her son had made of his bed as Juliet ran out of the kitchen. The two met on the way to the garage where they found their husbands headless corpses.

None of the survivors ever knew about the hum. It wouldn’t have given them the answers they needed anyways.