Silence In The Shadows (Always Speak Up)

• Brooke Buttenshaw, Grade 10, Catherine McAuley High School -
• Short Story
• 2018

Excellence Award in the 'Horizon of Dreams 2018' competition

The night was bland. Imprinting a distasteful gloom, that drifted through the secluded streets of Hilton road. I scan the azure, but the sky lays bear, starless and despairing. Plunging towards the utter nothingness, I am woken by my dim savor. A flickering street light. The world around me diminishes, alluding remorse. I am perceived as a voiceless victim, except a faint noise breaks through the icy atmosphere. Leaving me to question the ‘truth’ of my own existence in this profound world. Simple questions seem so formidable. Not knowing who or where I am, relentlessly irritates my intellect. My throat painfully swells to the point of bursting. Words seem so feeble in moments like this. Moments where everything seems dark and hopeless. An evil is present within every being, lurking in the shadows. Creating the most terrible noise. Silence.

The Silence breaks as a small twig snaps, deafening my ears. A terrifying scream chokes me while I gasp for air, with unbearable agony. I take a few steps back. Slowly, quietly, praying that they won’t see me. Nevertheless, I still stumble backward. I’m running. Always running frantically, unable to stop the fear pulsing through my veins. I’m cornered, nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, no one to turn to. The hairs on my neck stand up. They’re here. They found me.

The world seems to fade away. Melting. Eroding my existence, which would soon be erased. Isolation consumes me, blurring my vision. The black oozing tar is thick, pulling me to the ground. I can hear it again. The voices, laughing at me. Why are they always laughing? Abruptly the laughter starts to hurt. It strains, as I realize that I’m laughing with them. Pretending not to care, hiding the fear, which overwhelms me. Haunted by the shadows that torment me, I become one with the dirt. I cried out, hoping that someone would come to my rescue. My voice echoes into the night as the screaming finally stops. I am now nothing, no one. Just a dirt road and a broken light that became old and worn. A light that no longer shines with hope, only fear of judgment.

I was a voice, a whisper. No matter how hard I tried to scream, no one could hear me. Maybe no one was ever listening. I see many other roads who were once people. Tread and walked on, like they weren't even living, breathing beings. Now they too, stand stuck. Frozen. Waiting for someone to speak up. A dark shadow descends, leaving us alone once again in this unfair and weary world. My thoughts were lost in the night. Producing this essence of loneliness. A mist of sorrow scattered the streets of Hilton road. Here lie beings, who were once people. Left with broken hearts and broken lights. Stuck forever in a setting, which will never change if they continue to lay in silence.

“Speak, even if your voice shakes.” Dolly Everett 2003-2018

Speak, even if the silence consumes you.