I can hear the moon.

Yes, you read that right. I can hear the moon.<br><br>It all started because of my tinnitus. It’s been with me for a good portion of my life (33 at the moment), but over the last couple years I’ve really been paying attention to it. As I got older, I started noticing patterns in the ringing. I can’t explain it, but the pitch and volume of it changes depending on the situation that I’m in, but one thing stays the same: the ringing. It’s always there, and it’s always the same tone. If I had to describe it, I’d say that it sounds a *lot* like a dial tone.<br><br>I can hear the tinnitus when I go to sleep, and I can hear it when I wake up in the middle of the night. I hear it when I’m in the car (or on a bus or train, I prefer not to drive if I don’t have to). In fact, I didn’t even notice it until I spent time up in the mountains with no cell service. My friends all joked about how awesome it was to be disconnected for a weekend, and they were right. However, I didn’t enjoy it as much as they did, because to me, it wasn’t a digital detox. Don’t get me wrong, I had a great time, but it felt more like I was being held hostage by Mother Nature.<br><br>It’s not all bad, though. Like I said, over the last couple years I’ve really been paying attention to it. I’ve noticed that when I’m in a quieter room, I can actually hear what sounds like voices in the background of the tinnitus. It’s very faint, and I have to really strain myself to hear it, but I can make out what sounds like…well, I’m not sure what they’re saying, but it sounds like people talking CRYSTAL CLEAR. I can’t explain it. It’s like my brain is a radio, and the tinnitus is the static that I have to listen through in order to hear anything.<br><br>It was changing though. I started to notice that I didn’t have to strain myself as much to hear the voices. It was still very faint, but at least it was clear and consistent. I was excited to tell my friends about it, so I did, but I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when none of them believed me. I don’t really blame them, it’s batshit crazy, and it sounds like it’s straight out of a bad thriller movie. I did manage to convince one of them to do some research for me, though.<br><br>She’s an astronomy major, and she loves space. Absolutely obsessed with it. So when I told her about the whole ordeal, she was extremely excited. She said that she would look into it, and tell me whatever she found, but she was sure that the moon was the culprit. She tried to explain it to me, but I didn’t really understand. I think it had to do with radio waves, and satellites, but she was talking the way that an engineer would talk to another engineer, not the way that an engineer talks to a layman.<br><br>Regardless, we decided to put it to the test. We drove up to the mountains again, this time for a week. There’s a little camp up there that we stay at. They’re an astrological society of some kind, and they have the most amazing telescope that I’ve ever seen in my life. It was just a fun little project for us to do, but it was also nice to spend some time together because we had all become busy with other things and hadn’t seen each other in a long time. So we went up there, and spent a week looking at the stars. They have these little cabins set up on the property, and they give you a star chart, and tell you how to line up the telescope in order to look at specific stars.<br><br>So we did all of this, and we had a great time doing it. We spent so much time looking at the stars that we hardly saw each other at all. It wasn’t until the second to last night that we actually sat down and talked about the tinnitus. It was about 2am, and we were sitting in the main living room (all of the cabins have one big room with a bunch of bunk beds, and everyone shares the bathroom). We were the only ones up, and we were sitting on couches across from each other with the lights off, talking in hushed tones.<br><br>MY FRIEND: (leaning in) So I was right. I was right wasn’t I?<br><br>ME: (grinning) Yeah, you were.<br><br>MY FRIEND: (smiling) I knew it. I knew it the minute you told me, I just needed to make sure. So you can hear it then?<br><br>ME: (nodding) Yeah, I can hear it.<br><br>MY FRIEND: (excitedly) What is it? Can you hear what they’re saying?<br><br>ME: (shaking my head) Unfortunately, no. I can’t. I can hear the voices though, and they’re getting louder.<br><br>MY FRIEND: (excitedly) That’s amazing! The moon is actually talking to you!<br><br>ME: (chuckling) Well, I wouldn’t say that just yet. I can’t hear what they’re saying.<br><br>MY FRIEND: (excitedly) No, I mean it. You have to tell me if you find out. Do you realize that you’re the first person in human history to hear the voice of the moon?<br><br>ME: (grinning) I know. It’s pretty fucking cool, but I have to actually hear what they’re saying before I can tell you anything.<br><br>MY FRIEND: (excitedly) I know, that’s why I’m going to help you.<br><br>We talked a little bit more, and then we went to bed. We both agreed to spend the day looking at the moon instead of the stars, and we made a schedule for it. Once we had done all that, we went to bed.<br><br>I couldn’t sleep though, so I got up and went back into the living room. I sat back down on the couch, and decided to try to listen to the voices some more. Full disclosure, I was a little creeped out. The only light in the room was the moonlight shining through the windows, casting an eerie blue glow over everything. I was alone, and I was in the middle of the mountains with the lights off and the window open. It’s not like I was afraid of ghosts or anything, but it was just uncomfortable. It probably didn’t help that the voices sounded like they were coming from the moon itself. Still, I was in the valley of the Moon Astrological Society, so if there was one place on Earth that I was comfortable listening to moon ghosts talk, it was there.<br><br>I closed my eyes, and listened. It was easier than it used to be, that’s for sure. I didn’t have to strain myself at all anymore, and it didn’t take me very long to make out the voices. I wish I could describe the sound of them, but I have no idea how. It’s not a voice that I’ve ever heard before, and I can’t think of any way to compare it except to say that it sounds kind of like my tinnitus. It’s a deep, bass-heavy voice that sounds like beings from another world talking to me. I know that sounds pretty on the mark for moon ghosts, but I swear to God that’s what it sounds like. And it’s so clear now. They sound like they’re in the room with me.<br><br>I listened to them for a while. I didn’t know how long I’d have this chance, so I really wanted to try and make something out. I wish I could say that I did, but I didn’t. I listened to them for almost an hour, and I still couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was so close, I could tell, but I just couldn’t make out the words. It was extremely frustrating, but at the same time it was also kind of exhilarating. My friend was right when she said that I’m the first person in human history to hear the voice of the moon. It’s not something that you ever really think about, but the moon is a part of our planet. It’s part of our *lives*, and we never really put that into perspective.<br><br>Until now.<br><br>I was still listening to the voices when I fell asleep, and when I woke up they were still there.<br><br>The next night, my friend and I sat down in one of the little cabins that they had set up on the property. It was a small, wooden thing with a window and a tiny little telescope that they use to look at the stars. We spent the day looking at the moon again, and I realized that I could hear the voices more clearly when the moon was visible. It was like my brain was a satellite dish, and it needed something to focus on in order to fully function. So we set up the telescope, and pointed it at the moon. We sat in the little cabin, and closed our eyes, and listened.<br><br>For almost an hour, we listened. I knew that I was getting closer, and I could feel myself shaking a little bit with excitement. It sounded like a group of people talking to me, not like a single person. It sounded like a whole room full of people, and I was getting close enough to almost make out the words. I strained myself as hard as I could, and it didn’t take long.<br><br>Not soon after we started, I could make out the words.<br><br>*”Why do they look at us?”*<br><br>I heard it. I heard it, clear as day. And no, that’s not a metaphor. It was a voice that I had never heard before. It was a voice that sounded unlike anything I had ever