Can You Hear The Silence?

• Lily Brown, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2019

The bombs fall everywhere. Near and far, close and distant. The sounds echo and ring in the ears of children as their parents hurry to find an escape. It’s every man, woman and child for themselves.
You can smell the ashes as they fall towards the rubble.
You can smell the smoke, as the fires grow bigger and bigger.
You can smell petrol from cars that are on the brink of flames and explosions and you can smell the dirt and gravel as a bomb sends you flying into the ground.
They are relentless and inconsistent, the metal packages of destruction. They can wipe out entire cities if there is enough of them. You can see the flames of war, building up in a single house.
You can see hundreds of people fleeing for their lives.
You can see the tears sliding down the cheeks of a mother grieving for a small body lying lifeless in the dust and rubble and you can see that mother cover her head as she hears the whistle of a bomb pummeling towards her.
The gunfire begins and it does not stop for a long time. Those who survived the bombs fall to the ground. Dead. You can touch the ashes, like black snow. They do not freeze, they burn.
You can touch the melting sign of a shop front, but it is not advised.
You can touch the unexploded shells if you’re an adrenaline junkie and you can touch the bodies of the lifeless. Terror is in the hearts and heads of those still alive as the seek refuge under a shop or a bridge. Little do they know, that bridge is the next target to be bombed.
You can taste the little bits of building that rain down.
You can taste the little saliva you have left when you spit out rubble.
You can taste the smoke as it flows through your body and you can taste vomit and bile as you cough and wheeze. As the bridge comes down, people come down with it. Those lucky ones who are still alive curse the sky, but will soon be dead any way. You can hear the gunfire starting up again. It is loud.
You can hear the ringing in your ears.
You can hear sirens wailing and you can hear the children’s screams and cries as their mothers and fathers are torn away from them. You can then hear silence.