“There is a sound to waiting. It sounds like held breath pounding its fists against the walls of the lung, damp and muffled beats.”

“It's the sound of my breathing that gets me, pouring down into my lungs and then tripping back up my throat.”

“A breath of sound across the landing, almost imperceptible, like a shadow moving against blackness; then nothing.”

“From upstair there was a new sound the only thing that could stop me in this endless instant, a frantic pounding, a racing beat, a changing heart.”

“For the first stretch of road Olivia’s eyes were sealed shut, her breath held hostage in her lungs.“You might want to open your eyes,” Wesley called back knowingly, his muffled voice breaking through both of their helmets. “And don’t forget to breathe.”

“turns me on so loud it's like no sound, everybody yelling at me hands over their ears from behind a glass wall, faces working around in talk circles but no sound from the mouths. my sound soaks up all other sound.”