Sound of Silence

Writing Prompt:

Write about a noise or a silence that doesn’t go away.

From: "The Pocket Muse, Ideas and Inspirations for Writing," by Monica Wood.

Photo from: hnt6581 on Flickr- https://flic.kr/p/vdMfs5

The silence started on a Friday. It was deafening. You wouldn’t think it would be, with it being silence and all, but it was. Absolutely deafening.

At first, I thought I had lost my hearing. Every time someone talked, I could see their lips moving, but I couldn’t hear them. I couldn’t hear the birds in the trees, the wind blowing, or the buzz of the lights in my living room. Everyone I came across seemed just as confused as I was. They tried to talk to each other, but it seemed no sound came out. Finally, we started writing everything down and quickly realized there was no sound. None of us could hear anything except the horrible sound of silence.

It came from the west. That much we knew. It grew louder and louder, silently driving each person around me mad until I was the only one left, the rest taken by something I could neither see nor hear. And then, just as quickly as it started, the silence left. The first sound was a small ringing sound that grew louder and louder until I realized it was my phone. I answered “Hello?”

“Hello. You can hear me?”

“Yes.”

There was a long pause after a brief “He can hear me.” This was followed by “He is the one,” before the line went dead again. Silence filled the air once again. This time, I welcomed it.

Additional Writing Prompt:

Write a story about an unexpected phone call.

Citations:

Photo from: hnt6581 on Flickr- https://flic.kr/p/vdMfs5

Wood, M. (2006). The pocket muse: Endless inspiration: New ideas for writing. Writer’s Digest Books.