My work

Silence (tw: gore in the end)

All i ever asked for was silence; for the house to be calm when I get home from work. But no, the house was always buzzing from my kid's cries, my wife complaints or the dog's barking. I could not spend five minutes in silence, no, there was always something to bother my rest.

I asked my family to speak more quietly, I took the dog out when he started barking, I offered to help my wife, to watch the kids, hell, even to do the dishes, but nothing ever worked. Everyday, I would go back home hoping that for once everyone would be calm, and everyday my dream was shattered as I passed the front door.

I didn't know how long I could continue living like this, how long I could keep pretending, so one night, I took matters into my own hands. "I will make this house silent for once" I promised myself. I got started on cooking dinner, a task my wife kept complaining about, while making sure my kids were entertained in front of the tv; I made some tomato soup with grilled cheeses, since the weather was slowly getting chillier in this end of October. I added some onions, put a clove of minced garlic, followed the recipe perfectly so that it would be perfect. "There shall be no room to complain tonight" I repeated, like a mantra, while cooking, to give me the motivation to continue.

A few minutes later, the whole family was reunited to eat all together; they stayed calm for a while, enjoying the food as I watched them, a smile on my face. I had succeeded, they like the food, I enjoy the silence, everyone is happy...right?

A sudden noise brought me back to reality. My son Tommy was arguing with his brother, who accidentally had stained his shirt. My wife then started yelling at the boys, complaining that they would never stop screaming and that she was the only one that did a thing in this house. Once again, a yelling match had begun, and once again my dear silence was interrupted, but no, not tonight.

So I got up, my cutlery still in my hands, and left the room.

The next day, when I came home from work, everything was silent. What a change! I could finally rest without being disturbed by random screams. My overjoyed self decided to get ready on cooking dinner and soon enough, we were all sitting around the dinner table. No one ate, not a single fork was raised, no, nothing.

"Why isn't anyone eating?" I dared to ask

No answer. Silence, nothing more, nothing less.

"Oh right I forgot, cat got your tongue, or should I say I got your tongue"

I slowly raise my head to take a better look at their scarred faces, then glanced at the jar containing their organs of speech.

From now on, there shall be no noise in this house.