Episode Details

The Sound EatersWritten by ExRwoodSerena perched on the cushioned window seat with a long-forgotten cup of coffee clutched in both hands. It was a gray day—one in a long string of gray days that went back weeks. Or months. Who could remember? She set the white cup on the spotless sill.Moments later, a ripple rolled across the surface of the coffee. It was chased by another. And another. She ground her teeth. The whole apartment building vibrated with the sounds of life: doors slammed into frames, music blasted into ears and boomed through bones, children ran helter-skelter. Outside, car horns blasted, traffic hummed, and L trains clacked. Finding a moment of silence in Chicago was rare; it occurred only in the darkest hours of the night, and the fragile spell was easily broken by a hacking cough or a screaming baby.Serena tapped her fingers on the sill, adding to the ripples.She'd dwelled in the chaos of city life for most of her fifty years. She often imagined what it would be like to live alone somewhere so quiet she could hear her heartbeat, her breathing. Down the hall, a door slammed. A child yelled. Serena grabbed her coffee and gulped it. Her mouth twisted at the cold, bitter assault. She sighed, set the cup down again, and closed her eyes. At least the dog had been blessedly quiet today.Serena lived in apartment 1E, at the end of the hall near the stairs in an old, three-story brick building. In 1A, near the front entrance, lived an older man and a small brown dog that barked at everything and nothing. The dog barked the way a lonely human might talk to themselves just to hear their own voice.Across from the dog was 1B, which was home to a family of five. Or ten. Or twenty. So many people went in and out, it was impossible to know who lived there. To top it off, a puzzling number of people would pass right by 1B and then ring every other doorbell in search of it.In 1C, next to 1A, lived a woman and her new baby. And a slightly older baby. And another one barely older than that. Serena was pretty sure the babies had worked out a schedule so one of them was always crying.Across from 1C, was 1D, home to three young men who each had different musical tastes. There wasn't a functioning pair of headphones among them.Above Serena was apartment 2E, which seemed to be occupied by an entire wrestling team plagued with insomnia. In actuality, two friendly elderly women lived there, each looking as if they couldn't weigh more than a hundred pounds. Yet somehow they managed to set Serena's dining room lights swaying day and night.The doorbell buzzed, jarring Serena from her reverie. She padded to the door and peered through the peephole. She didn't recognize the person. “This isn't 1B,” she said.The person mumbled something before heading away to ring someone else's bell.Serena took her cup to the sink. The doorbell buzzed. She jumped, dropping the cup. The handle snapped off and bounced into the disposal with a clink. The bell buzzed again. She slammed the cup on the granite counter. Her thin lips pulled tight, she stomped to the door and yelled, “This isn't 1B! Can't you read?”A woman said, “Um, hello? I'm looking for 1E.”Serena frowned and squinted into the peephole. A twenty-something woman stood with a child resting on her hip. Serena opened the door, pulled her cardigan closed, and crossed her arms. “Can I help you?”“I'm from 1B. I really need a favor.” The woman hefted the boy higher on her hip. Her clothes were rumpled. There were dark smudges under her eyes. She rubbed her ear; it looked an angry shade of red. “Could you watch Bailey for an hour or two?”Serena's eyebrows raised. The child, whom she assumed was Bailey, looked to be about three years old. He was clutching a filthy gray stuffed rabbit in one hand wh