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Thursday, October 16, 2008
Silence
I sit by the window putting my mind in a state of awareness. The wind rushes through my window sending my blinds rattling and clanking against the window frame, soon followed by another, then another. I close my eyes and feel the air against me sending my loose pants, and shirt fluttering slightly in this brief gale. I open my eyes in time to see the blinds fall back to their original positions before they were tossed by the onslaught of wind. I lay back and close my eyes again and listen.
I hear my heater behind me. Rattling within its hollow pipes. The random plinking sounds of the heater from time to time. I hear doors opening and the footsteps of my housemate walking to the bathroom. His footsteps are heavy, causing the hardwood floors to tremble with each pace. The sound of his feet pounding against the wood of the floor making a muffled thump with each step.
I listen to a crow somewhere in the distance cry out, and then somewhere off to my left I hear a distant response from another crow. I hear the wind whiff sweeping through my window again and hear the low hum as it passes by my ear. I listen with the intent of hearing everything, I don't want to miss any of it. Somewhere close by is a different hum. Its the hum of a bee, or could it be a wasp. The sound grows stronger and I can feel the fluttering of its wings very close to my cheek. The buzz is not the high pitch you hear when mosquitoes are near. This is deeper, like a low buzz. I dare not move for fear it will sting, and then know for sure if this was a wasp or bee.
So, I lay still and do not move, or even hardly breath. I could hear my heart beating , thumping ,slow and consistent. Two beats per second. The hum soon moves away off to my left. The wind resumes its concert and it too begins to fade. Not as intense as before, more of a gentle brushing against my skin. My shirt and paints no longer flutter gently, rather they lay down limply. The absence of the wind, and the now quiet room, heightens my awareness and new sounds emerge.
I now hear a tractor, I think. The sound is familiar, but yet it is different. It has a squeak and a load deep diesel engine sound. It's probably a bus, along the street. Both are real close. I listen to the banging of the blade as it hits something hard and the roar of the diesel as its operator pushes the engine harder. As the sound of the engine passes by, I hear the loud wailing of a siren from afar getting louder and coming closer. Then, both sounds of the deep engine and the siren become intertwined. The siren from a firetruck blasts by and fades away. Then silence. No breeze, no engine, no hum, no siren just silence. I guess the streets were empty again. The quietness was defying.
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