Tinnitus

What's that awful noise?

Floyd woke in the morning with a ringing in his ears.

As a long time sufferer… or acknowledger rather… of tinnitus, this was not unusual.

Floyd was trying to be more new-agey or whatever. Mind over matter or something.

Suffering was a choice, they said.

Floyd wasn’t sure he believed in all that.

There was a girl he liked who did and he was trying to impress her.

Her name was Janice.

Floyd got ready and left for work just like any other day.

The ringing in his ear persisted. He thought nothing of it. Sure, it was a little louder than usual, but he had learned to ignore it.

On the bus, the driver and the other passengers seemed maybe a bit distracted. They kept looking up.

Floyd ignored them.

He didn’t like people…

… or most people.

He did like Janice.

Floyd was a line cook at a diner.

The sizzle and shouting drowned out the sound of his tinnitus.

Floyd liked the noise. It was better than the ringing sound.

Janice called it Radical Acceptance or Transmutation or something. Floyd didn’t really care what it was called and didn’t really care to know the term she used.

After work Floyd met Janice for a date.

The people in the bar seemed distracted. They looked up like the people on the bus had.

When Janice arrived, she was distracted too.

He asked her what was wrong.

She acted like he was crazy for asking.

“Are you kidding me? It’s all anybody is talking about. It’s on the news. It’s everywhere. This awful, high pitched sound.”

She looked at him.

“Do you seriously not hear it?”

Floyd shrugged his shoulders.

“Nothing I don’t always hear.”

“What?”

Floyd repeated himself, louder.

“Well, it’s awful,” she said. “If this is what you hear all the time, I don’t know how you put up with it.”

“I thought with all that new agey stuff you’d be okay or whatever.”

She shoved him in the arm.

“This is different and you know it.”

Floyd didn’t know it. He had been dealing with the sound for as long as he could remember.

Floyd tried to put it out of his mind, but he could tell that Janice was miserable.

They agreed to go back to his place. He told her that sometimes loud music helped.

They stepped outside.

“I think it’s getting louder,” she said.

She covered her ears.

Floyd took a step.

BAM!

He was hit by an out of control bus.

Janice screamed.

The bus driver ran out.

There wasn’t much left of Floyd. He was splattered on the bus, on the street, on nearby cars.

Some of him was even splattered on Janice’s top.

One of the passengers stepped off of the bus.

He looked up. He looked around. He smiled… sort of.

“Guys. Hey guys! Is it just me, or is the noise gone?”