Listening — Summary

A vast, quiet prairie stretches out, and then a sound breaks through — footsteps. But they are so faint, so remote, that the speaker can’t tell whether these belong to ordinary people or something divine. It’s not just noise; it’s a question. The feeling is one of hushed curiosity, as if the boundary between human and myth has suddenly blurred. In a landscape this empty and still, any small sound becomes charged with possibility. The prairie’s deep silence transforms the simplest thing — someone walking — into a mystery. The speaker simply holds the question open, letting the reader share in that suspended moment of listening. There’s no answer, only a quiet wonder. The mood is meditative and slightly otherworldly, turning a passing footstep into something that might be sacred.