A Silent World

After the tremors subsided, I reached my hand up from the rubble around me. The world seemed strangely quiet. A drop of moisture trickled down the side of my face. I stared at the tips of my fingers, after catching a single drop before it reached my neck.

Blood.

A dizzying sensation came over me in full force. I gazed into the distance, my fingers now out of focus. Across the road I spotted a middle-aged man, covered in dirt, soot and bleeding from his arms. He was yelling something to a child a few steps in front of him.

Silence.

The young girl he was yelling at appeared to be crying. Her expression fearful. She laid still on the ground, her leg pinned down by a portion of a wooden fence.

Silence.

I’m startled by a tap on my shoulder. A young man appears to my right. His mouth moving.

Silence.

I try to speak.

Silence.

I’ve gone deaf.