naparb38

@@@@@If it had not been so discordant, it might have sounded like an uglier version of the constant music I'd heard and sung on the Singing WorldThe darkness of the blindfold suited that memory, the memory of blindness Melanie understood the cacophony before I didI'd never heard the sound because I'd never been with humans before It's an argument,she realizedt sounds like so many people arguing She was drawn by the soundWere there more people here, then? That there were even eight had surprised us bothWhat was this place? Hands touched the back of my neck, and I shied away from them ?Easy now,? Jeb saidHe pulled the blindfold off my eyes I blinked slowly, and the shadows around me settled into shapes I could understand: rough, uneven walls; a pocked ceiling; a worn, dusty floorWe were underground somewhere in a natural cave formationWe couldn't be that deepI thought we'd hiked upward longer than we'd slid downward The rock walls and ceiling were a dark purpley brown, and they were riddled with shallow holes like Swiss cheeseThe edges of the lower holes were worn down, but over my head the circles were more defined, and their rims looked sharp The light came from a round hole ahead of us, its shape not unlike the holes that peppered the cavern, but largerThis was an entrance, a doorway to a brighter placeMelanie was eager, fascinated by the concept of more humansI held back, suddenly worried that blindness might be better than sight?Sorry,? he muttered, so low that I was certainly the only one to hear I tried to swallow and could notMy head started to spin, but that might have been from hungerMy hands were trembling like leaves in a stiff breeze as Jeb prodded me through the big ho