“…once a sound travels into the world it remains, floating there, just waiting for an un-invented receiver to find its frequency. It is a beautiful idea, that there could be some future radio that could replay a sound from some impossible distance.” – From Distance Frequencies, Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Rock Creek Cemetery

A letter from 1935 was found unopened near a tomb by someone in 1993 who said he was “on his way to visit G’s grave.” The letter is written on Shoreham Hotel stationary and is addressed to “Judah.” It is narrated by a woman who signs it as “B.” She describes a memory of being here, watching a funeral from a distance: “as your family buried our father one year ago today.” It’s revealed that Judah and B did something a year ago that still haunts her. 

She writes the next section from the Kauffman memorial. As she thinks about ghosts, the past, and the unrevealed thing she and Judah did together one year ago, she begins to hear voices coming from everywhere. After they disappear, she focused on what one voice said about a statue of grief keeping secrets and she decided to head to the famous “Grief” memorial.