Silence

Maybe someday, when things weren’t the way they were, what had been done didn’t happen, and what was about to happen wouldn’t go down, then, maybe perhaps, in a quiet place, with soothing winds, and a beautiful view in front, just, him, and her, perhaps then, maybe, he’d tell her all about it.

The alarm made its noise and he woke up. That… thumping clatter, pinched his ears. If only, there was a way he could stop it. They say if you keep going through something, you get used to it. And then there also might come a time when you fall in love with it. But, why is it, every morning when he heard that God forsaken alarm, he wanted to break that clock… there was no getting used to that. The only thing he could do was to get up and make it stop.

The peace, the quietness, and most of all, the scenery, all so beautiful. Amazing how such a place made him think, while he became so numb and blank in the places that he called life. Life… what a strange phenomenon, he thought as he walked through the lush green grass towards her. She sat there, so still. Her eyes, glimmering.

He walked towards her, every step making all the noise in the world. Even his thoughts seemed so noisy. Finally, he was there and he sat beside her. The wind, so soothing. And the scenery in front, so beautiful. He looked towards her, ‘So?’ he said. And then, there was silence… She took a sigh. ‘So many things, such little time,’ she said. She looked towards him, ‘And so much turmoil…’ And then, there was silence. All one could hear was the whistling wind. He got up. ‘Some other day then’ he said, and with this, he walked away…

The alarm made its noise and he woke up. That… thumping clatter, pinched his ears. If only, there was a way he could stop it. Was that too much to ask? His body felt heavy and his mind felt numb. All he wanted was the blanket to keep hugging him as he fell asleep. But that God forsaken noise… What did he ever do to deserve such torment? Why is it that he had to go through it every single morning?

And finally, he reached her. He sat beside her. The quietness, so peaceful. The winds, so soothing. And the scenery in front, so beautiful. He could hear his thoughts scream. And he could hear his heart thumping. ‘So?’ she said. And then, there was silence. So many things. Such turmoil. And the silence. He got up and walked away.

The alarm just wouldn’t stop. Why was it that there was just no stopping it? He pushed his blanket away. With a heavy body and a numb mind, he pulled himself up. He walked towards the clock and finally, made it stop… ‘What’s the time?’ he thought. But it didn’t matter. As long as it had stopped, time didn’t matter.

By: Muhammad Qasim