When I Met Silence

 

I was sitting comfortably in my armchair one night, with only my coffee mug for company. A myriad of thoughts ran through my head. In my head, the silence was almost deafening because though my surroundings were silent, my mind was not.  I decided to play some music to kill the silence of the night. As I was about to switch on the speaker, I thought I heard something.

“Why are you so afraid of me?” came a voice.

“Who is it?” I looked around but couldn’t see anyone.

“That’s funny, you were just about to kill me,” she said.

“Kill you? Neither do I know you, nor can I see you, how can I kill you?” I panicked a little.

“Don’t be afraid, I won’t hurt you. If you sit with me, if you keep me for company, I can introduce you to your true self,” she said.

“How? Who are you?”

“I am silence! But you don’t know me because you never spend time with me.”

“Silence? Why don’t you show yourself?”

“I am always there; you just need to cut out the chaos from your life. I am here, but the moment you turn on that speaker, I will be gone.”

“What do you want from me?” I asked.

“Sit down, have your coffee while it’s hot,” she instructed.

I did as she told me.

“Now relax,” she said. “I’m not here to take anything from you. In fact, I’m here to give!”

“What can you give me? I have everything I want.”

“Really?” she enquired.

“Yes!”

“I can give you peace of mind. Do you have that?”

“Yes,” I replied after some hesitation.

“Ah! Hesitation. You’re not sure, are you?”

I was with her for a couple of minutes. “No,” I replied then.

“See, two minutes with me and you know yourself better already! That’s the next thing I can do for you. Introduce you to yourself.”

“Don’t I know myself already?”

“Not at all. Your mind is too muddled by the opinions of the world. Spend some time with me and you will start to hear the suppressed voice of your heart!”

“Suppressed?” I enquired.

“Yes. Because you are always listening to a myriad of voices who have a myriad of opinions about you.”

“So, tell me, what do I do?”

“Spend some time with me every day. Once you know what your heart wants, you can be in better control of yourself and take your life in the desired direction.”

I saw quietly with her for some time. When I spoke nothing, I could feel her. I was mesmerised, my eyes welled up.

“You’re beautiful!” I said.

“Thank you,” she said and giggled. “You need to stop flirting with me though.”

“I’m sorry,” I replied.

“Don’t be. Stop flirting with me and get into a committed relationship with me. Meet me every day for some time and see how I change your life!”

“I will.”

“Watch out!” she yelled as I accidentally dropped my coffee mug. I was startled out of my slumber by the loud noise of the cup shattering into pieces. I looked around, there was no one there. I felt calm and peaceful though. Probably I was dreaming. I sat back for some time, thinking about the dream. And realised, this dream had awakened me to the need of connecting with myself once again.