study of a sound

A gasp is such a hollow sound. It's there and then it's gone: air being sucked away in a second or less, leaving behind not even an echo but an eerie memory. It etches itself on someone's face, and can therefore be seen even after it has happened. In the moment when someone might wonder if they even heard it at all, just look and you'll see it: the opposite of the rumble of thunder which follows lightning. A flickering shadow. An audible freezing, or sudden pounding, of the heart.

A gasp is a prequel to so many other things.