Lack of Power

Photo by Rochelle

The power went out with a silence so vast it was a sound in itself.

We were so accustomed to the constant noise everywhere we went, the continual accompaniment of music playing somewhere, the low drone of the refrigerator’s compressor, the whir of a wall clock.

And outside, the rush of distant traffic punctuated by the sounds of trucks and racing motorcycles, the hum of transformers high on their power poles, the scorch of distant jets.

All stopped at once.

Cars on the road.

Planes in the sky.

It was as if the fundamental principles of electricity had never existed.

 

Friday Fictioneers

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  1. michael1148humphris

    When the power goes off as it sometimes does in winter time. I find that I love the darkness. But planes falling from the sky. No.

  2. Life Lessons of a Dog Lover

    I really like the idea of silence being a sound. I agree with all the comments that you captured what it feels like when there is a power failure and I loved that you took it further to include everything stopping. It made me remember being in Toronto after 9/11 and driving by the airport and seeing all the planes parked in long lines and the odd feeling of not hearing any planes flying overhead. It was surreal. Your story brought me back there.

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