Babel

I wake in a pile of newspaper strips, like a pet gerbil. All the story fragments are of me or of people I know, and all are being read aloud at once.

I wonder how they sleep in New York City, with millions of histories being recounted all night long. It must be deafening.

In the woods, at least, the stalking creatures are mostly silent - until the light comes, and the chattering birds.

---

Half the world's population will live in cities by 2007. Population of humans, that is.