PRELUDE

1931     December           Hell’s Kitchen, West Manhattan

That sound. It was as if it were flowing, as if it were soaking in.

Dawn tinted the streets, and a gentle melody enfolded them.

It was faintly melancholy, reminiscent of the sorrows of mankind.

As if pitying the end of something. As if greeting the beginning of something.

Under an exquisitely clear sky, it made the air in the streets tremble, quietly and profoundly.

As if it were changing the colors of the sooty streets to monochrome.