I could feel a shift in our collective consciousness, as we began to tune ourselves to the intimate sounds immediately around us. It was as if someone was turning the manual zoom on the camera lenses of the room, and we were being pulled deeper into it.

The air conditioning, Leslie said, after some time.

Emily mentioned the clock, ticking on the mantel.

My breath, I said, and Nora echoed it back—My breath.

The cracking of my ribs, Leslie said.

We fell quiet again for a while, until Howard said—There’s a . . . faint whistle in my nose, when I breathe in.

My socks on the carpet, Emily said.

Shawn remarked that he could hear Kyle rubbing his hands on his pants.

I can hear that too, Kyle said, prompting some laughter from the group. They’re sweaty.

My heart, Mia said, after a moment.

Yes, Emily replied.

My heartbeat, several others murmured.

The crack of my back, Jo said.

The sound of my swallowing, I said. My saliva. My teeth in my head . . . clacking together when I close my mouth.

Emily’s stomach, gurgling, Damian said.

Emily laughed—I was going to say!

Several more sounds were identified, but gradually we fell quiet. Once it seemed we had exhausted the possibilities of the room, Jo guided us to listen deeper.

Go further. Can you hear your blood? Circulating inside of you? She paused. What about your nervous system? Can you hear the high-pitched whine of your own nervous system?

I tried to listen for it. I felt the others in the circle doing the same.

What else? Jo asked. Listen deeper. The Hum is there. Louder than ever. Inside the deepest part of you. I want you to focus the entirety of your awareness on it.

I was straining with every fibre of my being.

Frame out every other sound until only The Hum exists, she continued. Let it grow louder. Let it fill your body. Let it fill every space between your cells. Between the molecules and the atoms that make up your cells. Between the infinite, vibrating space between the electrons and protons. This is the only sound. The original sound. The sound that predates life on Earth. The sound that made us. The sound that will unmake us and remake us an infinite number of times. As The Hum fills all of the empty space inside you, you become more Hum than human. You become nothing but sound. Vibrating as one frequency, across the entire surface of the Earth. Infinite, expansive, resonant. Until any trace of you is obliterated and you become boundless, until there is no distinction between our bodies. Release yourself into this boundlessness. Release yourself. Release yourself from the confines of your bodies and let the sound erase you, erase you, erase you, erase you, release you, release you—