Hearing Silence
Tracy Seeger
I am sitting in my car. I am parked just off the road by some fields. It is very calm and peaceful. I have my window open, and I can hear many sounds. I can hear the wind rustling the leaves of the trees. I can hear some farmers talking in the fields. I can hear traffic on the road very far away. I can hear the clock in my car ticking. The sound of the wind in the trees sounds like very light rain falling. Now it has stopped. The farmers are leaving in their trucks. I do not hear any birds singing. That surprises me. I can hear a dove cooing now. Some flies are buzzing nearby.
From my car I can see lots of trees. I don't know what type they are. The ones by the road have small leaves, and the ones further back have long thin ones. The trees on the other side of the road have medium sized round leaves. These are the ones that are being rustled by the wind. Through a gap in the trees I can just see across an open field, full of green plants which I think are sweetcorn, all the way back to another woodland. I can see some brown butterflies across the road. And also some white ones now. Apart from the flies I do not see anything else at the moment. There was just a bird flying over the field, but I could not see what it was.
All the trees are still now. The sun is shining gently on us. I can hear something moving in the bushes. It is probably a rabbit. It is so peaceful here. I wish I could stay all afternoon. But I have to go back to work now. Just as another bird begins to sing. Starting my car is going to break this silence. I feel guilty. The breeze has risen again.
Copyright © 2009 Tracy Seeger. All rights reserved.