Creepy Short Stories

The Sound Of Silence

The Sound Of Silence

On any night in winter—any night at all, so long as it's winter, as winter is when the silence is best—wait until 2:17 A.M. and then go to your piano.
If you don't have a piano, why are you reading? Go. This knowledge is not for you.

Should you have a piano, go to it? Sit, play a song—any song at all, but come 2:17 A.M., exactly 2:17 A.M., stop your song and play the highest key once.

Just once.

And then wait. Don't move. Don't breathe. Don't make a sound. And most importantly, do not turn around.
No matter what.

Listen. Listen very carefully. And eventually, the Silence will come for you. This is not silence—this is Silence, where you listen, and listen—
—but there is nothing to be heard.
Don't move. Don't breathe. Don't make a sound. Then, the Silence will do something you never thought it could.

It will sit next to you, upon the bench, and it will play a song. You will see nothing, but the keys will move, the song will play, and maybe, you will feel a hand made of nothing brush against yours on the keys.

This song is the song of your life. Listen carefully—but do not move, do not breathe, do not make a sound—and remember it. It will tell you of your triumphs, your failures, your happiness, your sadness, and come the final, lingering chord—
—it will tell you of your death.
When the chord has faded to silence again, you may speak—but only to thank the Silence for the knowledge it has given you. Then wait. Wait until the Silence fades away, until you can hear the buzz of insects and the creak of your house, the hum of electricity and the distant rumble of the freeway. But before it goes, the Silence will whisper one thing in your ear —just one, so soft that maybe, just maybe, you imagined it.

A date. It could be any day, days, weeks, months, years, decades from now. But remember that day.
Because though that song will haunt you for the rest of your life—your nights, your days, your dreams, your quiet moments, your triumphs, your failures, your happiness, your sadness—you must never attempt to play it.

Ever.

Should you, when that day comes so will the Silence—but it will not be the peaceful silence that they say comes with the end.

The Silence of death will consume you whole.