For Everything a Reason Read Free

empty. 
     
    ***
     
    Struggling to breathe, Marianna stood and moved towards
the window. She parted the drapes further, which allowed a magnificent burst of
sunlight to fill the room. She looked down at the passers-by and wondered how
many of them were at the mercy of their own burden of grief. She slid the
window open as far as the track allowed. Cold air billowed in, turning her dark
hair into a living black scarf. The coolness helped to dispel some of the
unwanted tension.
      
    ***
     
    Something brushed past Joseph’s face:
A breath. He inhaled deeply, surprised and excited by the unexpected sensation.
How could it be? Trapped in this dark void, another equally surprising
sensation stirred his consciousness.
    The sounds
of music.
     
    ***
     
    Marianna turned away from the window,
the faintest hint of song drifting in from some workman’s distant radio. She
returned to her husband’s side and found him motionless. Not even his eyes
moved. Now a solid ebony statue, only the rise and fall of his chest gave any
indication he was still alive.      
     
    ***
     
    Joseph focused his attention on the
noise. It came from far away, barely discernable in the rushing cacophony of
silence. The darkness that surrounded him split, tearing open in front and
behind. Two blinding lights exploded, one on each side of him. Multiple white
lines, running in parallel to each other, appeared from one of these lights,
snaking towards the other. The music increased, now clear and distinct, and
Joseph recognised the clash of guitars and bass. A chain of shapes broke
through the farthest tear, seemingly linked together, rushing in the same
direction as the white lines. At first they posed a mystery, strange symbols
and complicated swirls, but then Joseph realised they were the components of
written music. Making up one continuous chain, treble and bass clefs, quavers
and semi-quavers, rests and crotchets, careered towards Joseph, riding the
lines of the stave like a never-ending freight train. As the combination of
notes and signs drew closer, the once melodic sound became a rushing boom of
thunder.
    The lines
snaked towards Joseph, and for one terrible second he thought they were about
to rip into him. But no, they twisted away and continued towards the second
open rift. Joseph became aware of his own substance. On impulse, he reached out
towards the musical notes, and felt unexpectedly pulled towards them. A double
quaver raced past him, sending a pulse of energy through his spirit-like body.
More signs and notes rushed by in a dizzying blur. With startling clarity, he
knew this magical ride had been sent to collect him. He reached out again, this
time snagging a semi-quaver, and felt himself pulled along.
    The note he
rode turned brittle. It began to crumble, pieces breaking away, disappearing
into darkness. Joseph began to panic. At this speed, he knew that if he lost
his grip, he would be sent spinning into oblivion. He chanced a look behind and
spotted the twists and turns of a treble clef. Leaping away from the
disintegrating note, he landed awkwardly on the hurtling sign. He slipped and
almost fell clear, but with grim determination held on. Soon, though, the clef
too began to fragment. 
      
    ***
     
    Marianna looked up from her husband’s
face. The noise outside had changed in pitch and amplitude. A grating noise,
rasping like the lungs of an asthmatic, drowned out the music and shook the
open window. Marianna stood up, intent on shutting out the dreadful noise.
      
    ***
     
    Now hanging from the top of a double
quaver, Joseph leaped across the void and landed on a vibrating crotchet.
Without warning, the notes and signs had become an explosion of movement, not
only travelling forwards at breakneck speed, but also vibrating up and down
violently, as if the lines they rode had been plucked like the strings of a
guitar. Joseph chanced a look ahead. What he saw made him whimper like a
terrified child. The rift had begun to