Black flashes

The screen is completely black. After a few seconds, an array of melodious, obsessive, repetitive, and hypnotic voices—almost like a prayer—, progressively emerge. From time to time the sound of a thud can also be heard. Suddenly, for a short fraction of a second, an image brightens the black screen. Darkness lingers for another thirty seconds, while the volume of the noise increases and mingles with the sound of a dissonant chord. At this point a second flash briefly appears onscreen. The voice of a newscaster, some notes played on piano, the noise of an airplane, the rumble of an impact and an explosion, the frightened and appalled reactions of people, the opening of a TV news broadcast, the exclamations of a reporter, and an ambulance siren can be heard in quick succession. The third flash arrives a minute after the second, together with the noise of a thunderclap. This image is a bit longer than the previous and the eyes have enough time to better focus on its content: a falling body descends over the background of the grey and reticular wall of a skyscraper, accompanied by its shadow projected on the surface of the building.