Just a Few Words

Hush

Imagine you are standing in the middle of a busy street. It doesn't matter where. It can be any street, anywhere. Imagine the sounds that you hear from all around you: traffic, music, people talking on their mobile phones as they walk past. Now, start to cut out the sounds you can hear.

One by one, the noises of the world fade away. At first you get rid of the obvious sounds, those that are easiest to hear, those that are most familiar. As they vanish, you can hear the sounds that are still there but which are ignored. There are the sounds of footsteps on different surfaces; the sound if wind swirling between buildings and through overhead wires. Then there is the humming of electricity in the cables and the whirring of electric motors. They go, to be replaced by silence.

Having eliminated the sounds of Man, you now start to silence the sounds of Nature. Birdsong is the first of these to go, followed by the sounds of other animals. Dogs, cats, rats and mice all fall silent. You can no longer hear drops of rain or water as it flows through the gutters. Finally, Nature is quiet. But it is not yet silent.

Now you can hear the sounds that your own body makes: the popping and creaking of your joints; the rumbling of your belly; the shifting of gas in your intestines. Still silence eludes you. Get rid of the beating of your heart, the flow of blood through your veins, the tinnitus that rings in your ears.

Finally - silence. There is no more noise. It weighs heavily on you, bearing down upon you. You strain to hear something - anything! - but there is nothing! The silence is unbearable! You press your hands to your ears, trying to shut out the impossible, and scream.

The noise floods back in, assaulting your ears. For a minute you reel in the sensation of sound, staggering as it overwhelms you. And then all is back to normal. You look around you. The passers-by have stopped for a moment, distracted by your interruption of their lives. Then they go on their way, their footsteps fading into the noise of the street.