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.
This is a well written apocalypse tale. Using silence was a clever twist
Dear J Hardy,
I’ve often thought about what widespread power failure would do to us. Frightening. Well done.
Shalom,
Rochelle
Seems like more than just your standard power cut… Ominous.
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.
That’s a very mysterious failure of electricity when even batteries won’t work. Intriguing.
Sometimes I think we all could need such a silence to remember our true value.
Freaky! Beware of falling airplanes though I guess …
Interesting mystery, what could have happened to shut down all those power sources at once? I’m betting they won’t like the answer.
Great description of all the sounds we are used to hearing without really realizing that we are hearing them.
Randy
Whenever there is a blackout, my heart skips a bit from the shock of sudden silence. Nicely captured.
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.
Wow. I could hear the silence.
Great descriptors.
Interesting. This happens frequently our side. For a moment the silence is really deafening. Well written.
Timely piece … Having just experinced the lack of electricity from Hurricane Matthew traveling through my state of Florida, I can identify. Nicely written …
Isadora
The power went out with a silence so vast it was a sound in itself – lovely line