Silence

SILENCE

She walked slowly, watching the night sky. Ding! Suddenly, she bumps her head on the metal door. She takes a good look at it and realizes that it was actually a beautiful door. She rubs her forehead with her left arm and tells herself that she should be more careful. More like we should get out of here. The other one says. She takes a deep breath and keeps on walking. It was a very small town. Hardly had no tall buildings. At least where she was there were no tall buildings. The road was also empty. But it looked beautiful as the darkness and the lights blended in. No need to look for traffic, just cross the road.  She feels strange and remembers that the only place she feels at home is in a library. As she walks slowly around the campus, she can hear the crickets, all the animals of the night awake, chatting away through the silence.

Wait, isn’t campus supposed to be busy at night? She wonders as she walks across the empty halls. Just as she is wondering a group of 3 boys pass her. Obviously very drunk, attempting to find their way. Cat stops and moves aside, she stares at them with a smile. I wonder what it feels like to be drunk, she wonders. As if nature wants to remind her, she keeps walking enjoying the night. The stars were shining brighter and the night had a very strange aura. The campus despite being located at the heart of the town, felt like it was located in an extremely serene environment. The campus itself wasn’t what cat expected in campus, it was rather small for a university. In her mind, a campus was supposed to be huge, with all those beautifully and creatively designed architectural buildings. But this one, this one did not seem to have any landmarks. She would even bet on her life that it was smaller than her high school. Nevertheless, Cat loved the environment, the silence. She was addicted to silence. That was why the only place she thought of was the library. Just as she got there, she got hope. The lights were shining. What she loved most about this library was the garden. Very green and beautifully taken care of. She would feel calm reading her book there. However, the building was rather basic. Just a simple building. In fact, what eked cat more, was the fact that the library was only one floor. One tiny floor. In her head, she pictured it as a building on its own, with very, very, very many books. Where she had come from, the only library she had ever seen was the one in her high school, and it was even tinier than a kindergarten room. So, Cat looked forward to going to campus so that she could spend all her time in the library. But this library seemed to demotivate her. Once she got to the building, she looked up and stared at the night sky once more. Then she rested her eyes on the building. The library was only two floors. The ground floor was the library. The upper two floors were a computer lab and lecture rooms. After contemplating for a few minutes, Cat decided to enter the library. To her surprise the library was closed. Doors shut. What the hell was she thinking of going to a library at midnight. For heaven's sake, what did she expect? But, she told herself, this is campus. All facilities ought to be open 24 hours. She got disappointed and decided to go back to sleep. However, just as she walked towards the school gate, stepping on the pebbles, step by step. With the sound of silence, she could hear her steps.  Suddenly, Mmmh! Someone cleared their throat. Every being in her body, was suddenly up at attention. She turned around slowly but couldn’t see anyone. I swear I heard something. Well, I must be dreaming. She thought. This silence is going to be the end of me. But then, a light was strike. This time, she knew it, there was someone. So, she walked towards the back of the library. And true to her eyes, there was a man, smoking a cigarette staring directly at her. Her immediate reaction was curiosity. She was star-struck. This surprised her considering how aware she was of men. She knew men were no good. They were bad news, and it was best to stay away. However, she couldn’t help but be attracted. She thought it strange, also considering it was the middle of the night and this was a stranger. She stood there fixated, stared back at this mysterious guy. Much to her surprise, he smiled.

“So…” he said to her

“So… ”

“shouldn’t you be sleeping?” oh my, here we go again.

“excuse me? Who are you? In fact, who do you think you are to tell me what I should be doing?”

She is a sensitive one this one, he mumbled to himself.

“Sorry. I meant what brings you to the library at such an hour?”

“you know, books. What else?”

“so, you are one of those bookworms?”

“Which ones?” she asked him. This time, she had already gotten over her shock and decided to move closer to take a good look at him. The man was dark in complexion. Strongly built with a very magnificent body. His smile was very charming. It never quite opened up, to allow you to see his teeth. As if they were connected, he brought her a chair to sit on.

“I don’t like reading. In fact, I can’t say I have done much reading in my life. Here have a seat” he ushered to her. He placed the seat in the middle of the library garden, where the lights were brighter and the sky visible. Cat hesitated but sat down anyway. This was going to be interesting.

“so, you don’t like books,” she asked him.

“If I didn’t like them, I wouldn’t be here now would I be?”

“which ‘here’ do you mean?” she asked him. He stared at her and smiled, this time, you could see his teeth.

“he brought another chair and set it next to her. Cat had not forgotten that she caught him smoking, the art of smoking had always fascinated her. But, she had never quite had the guts to try it herself. Hell, she had never even drunk alcohol. If her friends knew that, they would probably laugh at her. She needed to change friends, a thought.

“So, do you love music?” he asked her.

“yes, I do, soft rock is my favorite”

He stared at her and smiled. God, she is pretty, he thought to himself.

“well, let me show you my world of books.”

He took out his phone and opened YouTube. According to the few rock songs he knew, he decided to play one for her. He chose a song. Complicated by Avril Lavigne. Oddly enough, Cat loved that song. They listened together as they watched the video and sang together. The night was turning out better than she had expected.

“I love this song,” she said to him. They listened slowly to the music and momentarily, they both drifted and looked towards the sky. There was just something about the sky. They talked and laughed away while listening to music. Suddenly, it dawned on Cat, it was late.

Smiling she looked at him.

“You know, I don’t think I have ever had so much fun in my life.” She told him. He smiled,

“I had fun too.”

“I better get some sleep, early day tomorrow.”

“ Okay, let me walk you.”

They walked through the gravel, staring at the campus. Discussing, laughing. Just by staring at them, you could tell that love lived there. You could see life in their eyes. After they crossed the road, they sat under a tree and hugged. Cats heart beat faster, this was strange, she immediately felt at home. She felt so tiny in his embrace. Somehow, she loved that. She felt safe under his embrace. He couldn’t stop holding her. He felt like it was a dream. He hoped to stay that way, for the longest he could hold on.

“Well, we better go to bed, almost 2am can you believe that?”

Cat told him. And immediately, they kept on talking and laughing away heartedly.

Suddenly, a car pulled up

“Hey! You two, what are you doing here at this time of the night?” Cat felt happy, she just knew that she felt happy. Leo held her hand and gripped it tight. She looked at her and she knew.

“It seems love couldn’t let you get to the room,” he smiles at his partner, he smiles back. “Get in the car and we will give you free accommodation for the night.”

Cat moved towards the car, they entered the backseat and he held her hand tight.

“Well, look at the positive side, at least you now have a story to tell your children.”

They both laughed. Cat was happy. Even though they were being taken to jail, she was happy, that was all she knew. Tomorrow was another day but until then, silence.