Quiet enough.

Sunlight illuminated the room, a beam fell on to the pens and pencils lined up in rows, behind them stacks of post stick notes towered above the huddled notebooks and folders. The desk was pristine, to one side sat a closed white laptop, charged up waiting to be caressed, to the other all the aforementioned stationary. The only thing missing was the master of this domain, the organiser, the pontificator, the person stumbling into the room squinting at the brightness of everything.

After lurching over to the chair, a “Queen of fucking everything” mug clasped firmly in her right hand, she dragged the chair out from under the desk before sinking into it. Blinking at the dust particles dancing in the sun she took a swig of her coffee then set it down beside the pens and pencils, knocking them slightly as she went, a couple rolled along before diving on to the floor. Seriously? With a small sigh she picked them up before delicately placing them in size order back on to the desk. An ordered desk makes for an organised mind. Nodding to herself she carefully opened up her laptop, stretched her arms out before keying in her screen log in. Taking another sip of coffee she smiled at the silence, perfect.

Just as she opened up her documents and placed her hands on the keyboard a phone started ringing, tutting she paused as she waited for the noise to end. After a few seconds it dawned on her, that wasn’t her neighbours phone it was hers. Marching angrily to her bedroom she snatched up the phone.

 “Hello” she snapped.

               “Hiya Jan, just thought I’d see how you’re doing? Are you writing in a cafe then?”

“I’m fine and I just want a bit of peace and quiet. If I wanted noise and distractions, I’d go and visit you.”

               “Oh, ok then, didn’t want you to feel lonely that’s all.”

“Muum! I didn’t mean to say that I just don’t like that, it’s not how I do things.”

               “Right, well I’d better be off, love you duck.”

“Love you too Mum!”

The call clicked off and Jan stood there frowning, sliding the little white rectangle into her pocket she trudged back to her desk, took a breath then started typing. Her fingers flew over the keyboard in a blur for several minutes as the words came thick and fast. Not bad. Grabbing the coffee, she took a few slurps as she re-read what she had just written, not noble prize material at any rate but good enough for a first draft. Just as she lifted her cup to drain the last of the lukewarm coffee she paused. What’s that buzzing, whirring sound? 

Frowning she got up and looked around the room, it wasn’t near the desk or coming from the radiators, nor the walls. She carried her cup to the kitchen; it was louder there. After approaching the various appliances, she realised that it must be the fridge freezer. Shaking her head, she shut the kitchen door and counted to ten as she returned to the desk. Jabbing at the keyboard she unlocked her laptop again and settled down to write, placed her hands in front of her and tried to tap in a few more words but they didn’t seem quite right. 

Instinctively she went to hit the delete button before pausing and looking again at the page, no those words weren’t wrong. Rubbing her face and exhaling she prepared to start writing again, this time a loud buzzing sound started, it wasn’t her telephone, it was too powerful for that. Jan Jumped back almost spilling from her chair. The loud buzzing noise was coming from the other side of the wall. There isn’t supposed to be anyone around at this time. Cracking her knuckles, she frowned as the words on the screen started to blur.

Suddenly the buzzing stopped. She allowed herself to breathe again, pulled herself back to the laptop. Then it happened, the buzzing recommenced, this time it was joined by hammering. Gritting her teeth together and putting her hands over her ears she tried to think.

Run, get out of there! Run away!

The next thing she knew was that she was on the street striding purposefully away from the cacophony next door, a laptop bag slung across her chest and a determined look fixed on to her face. She hovered momentarily near the entrance to a café, the aroma of coffee beckoning before hearing the coffee machine’s song, then changing her mind.

Once past the café her feet led her to a nearby park, the sunshine on the trees and the distinct lack of people made it appealing. She passed bushes in bloom, empty play areas, ball free fields, and still fountains. At last, she reached a bench nestled in the heart of the park and flopped down on to it. Jan surveyed the surroundings then slid the laptop out of her bag on to her thighs. 

Logging back into her computer she smiled to herself, before laying her hands back down on the keyboard. She managed a few hundred words before she heard the birds starting to sing. One hand shot to the top of the screen. Birds…I forgot they live around here too always tweeting and singing. Jan set the laptop down for a second and rummaged in her bag for her earplugs.

As she popped the first ear plug in there was a slight rustling noise but putting the second one in helped with that. Was that a person down there? No, it’s probably just my imagination.

She quickly got back to writing; the world muted her fingers flew across the page. There was no buzzing, nor any banging or bird song to disrupt her. It was just her. All alone in the park, isolated and hidden from view. The bushes around her were rustling but Jan didn’t notice. Lost in her work she carried on typing as a man approached her from behind. Is that a shadow?

CRACK!

She fell from the bench her head hanging limply to the side, the laptop fell to the floor just before she did. The man crunched it under his feet as he calmly left the scene.

Writers and librarians aren’t the only ones who value silence.