The Rumbling

For quite sometime there has been a rumbling coming from somewhere deep in the building. Some moments its very loud and my ribs vibrate. Other moments its more a thought than a sound, but there nonetheless. Imagine that a large number of people are pounding on the ventilation ducts with large padded drumsticks. The volume rises and falls.

At first I thought it was a jet. I leaned out my window, but the sound immediately subsided. I leaned back in and closed the window and it rose to great volume. The rhythm was frenzied. I wandered the building and could find nothing. I was thinking maybe a Native American group was holding a ceremony in the museum downstairs. No sign of that, unless they are behind closed doors. I put my ear to several and heard nothing, even though upon retreating from the door it would sound as though the deep, malevolent sound was emanating from within that door. That happened at several doors.

It's barely audible now. There's louder noise coming from my computer, which is rather quiet. Still, I know they haven't stopped. There! I hear it again. What in God's name are They doing? Where are They doing it? Do They even exist in this world? Am I hearing the a manifestation of some ancient Coastal Miwok ceremony? No one else seems to hear it. When I go into the hallway, it seems to come from the walls, ceiling and floor all at once.

I have this vision of a hole opening up, deep on the lowermost level of this building, well below ground level. As the drumming proceeds, the hole gets larger. The edges are blurred and in fast motion as though if you stepped close enough you'd be instantly sucked down into it, only to emerge on the slopes of some distant moutain. Perhaps in the wee hours of tomorrow morning, when all is quiet, this building will be swallowed by Mother Earth, to be followed in coming days by the rest of this place. Maybe Whatever controls this place has had enough.

Why do I hear it?