a whistling of the wind among the rocks a flatted fifth from an uninvited trombone a sizzling spark in the air when lightning bugs are absent The unicorn pranced side to side. . . . Musical voltage chimed in the soaring spaces of the forest. -- A. A. Attanasio, The Dragon and the Unicorn (1996) a "crackling, papery sound -- like the sound of a dry husk peeling from a bulb" (Carol Mason, "The Song of the Blue Unicorn," quoted in Radical Honesty by Brad Blanton, 1996) The following revelatory sounds may indicate that a noble unicorn is close at hand or just around a wooded corner: a nibbling behind a hedge in a leafy cloister Hearing a noise a couple of feet away, Ruairidh threw himself behind a bush and peered through the leaves. The creature stood directly in front of his sight. He could see it bowing low and then moving its mouth as if it were talking, but he couldn't make out any noise over the rumbling from above the clouds. Then the creature pranced away to his right. -- Sheona R. McCaig, Scrolls of Power (2003) a swoosh or swirl of air from a swatting tail The unicorn was calm -- neck arched, heavy tail swatting lazily at its golden sides, ears