Several months ago I wrote some very short (500 word) stories. Since I'm bored and can't sleep, and I think they're pretty good, I thought I'd post them here.

A Song of Silence

For thirty-seven years, 8 months, and sixteen days, not a word had been spoken in the Kingdom of Silence. Not a whisper or a shout. No cheers or cries. The Kingdom was nearly three hundred years old, and had been the Kingdom of Silence since it's earliest days. Sadly, this was an ideal the citizenry found difficult to live up to, and the current span of nearly four decades was the longest stretch by far. There was no singing. Did I forget to mention that? No singing anywhere at all. Except in the back of the throat of young Colin Sawyer, age 14.

Before he could speak, Colin's parents were embarrassed to discover that the tiny sound they thought they were imagining was emanating from the tiny mouth of their otherwise perfect baby boy. Of course, something had to be done. Colin's mother, Meredith, held the baby to her chest, gently rocking him back and forth. Colin loved this so much he cooed with happiness. Colin's father, Ellison, used stern indifference, a tried and true parenting method, but Colin was distracted by the sunlight bouncing off his mobile, a sight which filled him with joy. And so it went for those first three years. It wouldn't do for Colin to be seen, or more importantly, heard in public, so he wasn't. No one was allowed to visit him, either, leaving friends and family to wonder if Meredith and Ellison had made the whole birth up.

By the time grade school began, Colin had become an exemplary example of a child who is seen and not heard, as all the other children (and adults, for that matter) were. In truth, the Sawyers hadn't done anything other than make their son deeply, deeply unhappy, and the song that was always on his lips as a baby had vanished along with the joy of life.

Luckily for Colin Sawyer, there was born in the Kingdom of Silence, just two days after Colin, a young girl (very young, when she was born) with as much happiness, and an even greater urge to sing. Her life, up to the same fourteen years, was similar to Colin's with a similar result. She sang to herself, so quietly that even in the silence of the Kingdom, none could hear. None but the boy who also sang to himself (though, to be honest, not nearly as well) who happened upon the girl at the King's thirty-seventh birthday party. Hearing each other sing, they fell instantly in love, as only fourteen-year-olds can, and burst into spontaneous son for the whole kingdom, including the king, to hear. The king was so astonished by the beauty of his daughter's voice that the Kingdom of Silence became the Kingdom of Songs, and everyone sang to each other every word they spoke.

Perhaps in another thirty-seven years, eight months, and sixteen days this, too, will grow tiresome. But, for now, it's a nice change of pace.

The End


Comments and criticisms are welcome.

I like it, but am quite sure I don't totally understand it. It reads as a fairy tale, but with a moral that I fail to discern.

The moral is easy. It takes two to tango. Or... well, no... I don't know either, James. But it is a nice poignant tale.

It's a slow weekend, so...

Bump.

Interesting. Thanks for posting, Matt.