The Awakening by Michael Carroll Page A

car and driving away is a pretty good indication that you’re leaving. You don’t have to beep your horn and wake the whole neighborhood up!
    He wondered who it was and listened carefully. He faintly heard a woman calling, “Bye!” as the car pulled away. Colin recognized her voice: Mrs. Healy from number 23. He heard her close her front door, then go into her kitchen and fill the kettle.
    I’m dreaming, Colin thought. There’s no way I can hear Mrs. Healy filling her kettle!
    He imagined that he could hear his parents downstairs in the sitting room. The television was on, but they weren’t paying attention to it. His father was about to fall asleep; Colin could hear his breathing slowing, becoming more regular. His mother was humming quietly to herself and…yes, she was reading; Colin could hear the pages turning.
    Colin sat up. A thin film of cold sweat had broken out on the back of his neck and he felt dizzy, light-headed.
    “This is real,” he said aloud. “This isn’t a dream!”
    I should not be able to hear these things!
    He wondered what else he could hear, and strained to listen.
    Cars. Rain. Faint music coming from a neighbor’s house. A lot of voices, a lot of snoring. A baby crying. Footsteps slashing through the puddles. An almost silent whip-whip-whip sound that he couldn’t place.
    Then he heard Danny Cooper saying, “So we are going to Colin’s house? He’s probably in bed, Dad. I bet his parents are too. Can’t this wait until morning?”
    “No,” Mr. Cooper said. “Trust me, this is important.”
    “Well, couldn’t we have just phoned them?”
    “This has to be done in person.”
    Colin got out of bed and looked out of the window. He could still hear Danny and his father talking, but couldn’t yet see them.
    He quickly dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, grabbed his sneakers from under the bed and went downstairs. His father woke with a start as Colin opened the door. “Dad, Mum? Something’s wrong. Danny and his father are on the way over.”
    His father frowned. “What? I didn’t hear the phone ring.”
    “They didn’t phone. I can hear them talking.” Colin sat down on the sofa to put his sneakers on.
    “I don’t understand. Why are they coming here?”
    “Danny’s father won’t tell him.”
    “Are you sure you weren’t dreaming, honey?” Colin’s mother asked.
    “Unless I’m still dreaming—and I don’t think I am, am I?—I can hear them. I don’t know how, but I can.”
    Caroline carefully put her book aside, got to her feet and stood in front of her son. “What else can you hear?”
    Colin listened. “Everything. I can hear cats fighting, dogs barking…televisions, radios, car tires hissing on the wet roads…Mr. Johnston down at number 41 is complaining to his wife because there’s not enough bread. He wants to make a cheese sandwich. She’s just said that there’s some bread in the freezer…He doesn’t want to go to all that trouble…Now she’s just said that she’ll do it.” Colin opened his eyes and saw that his parents were staring at him. “I’m not making this up!” He tilted his head to one side and listened. “I can hear so much. It’s like being in a huge room packed with people who are all talking at once. And driving their cars and playing their radios.”
    “Concentrate,” his mother said. “Focus on one specific sound and try to block out the others.”
    “OK. I can hear Danny and his dad talking. Danny’s just asked his dad what they’re going to do if we’re all in bed. They’re almost here. And there’s something else in the background. It sounds kind of like a helicopter, only much quieter. Hold on.” He concentrated again. “I think it’s a couple of kilometers away, but it’s getting closer. The pilot’s just said something about tracking a transponder. Whatever that is.”
    Colin’s father started to speak, but Colin interrupted him. “The men in the helicopter…I think they’re following