Authored: June 28, 2017

I awoke to a deep silence
No noise, a cacophony of sheer silence
Immense and yet unreal
I looked out of the window and saw an empty street
Without people, cars strewn and doors left open
No people walking the pavements
Insoluble silence pervading the senses.

I walked the streets of my suburb
And found for company the askance wind
Lights on, shopfronts open
It was as if in a sudden resolute action
Nobody existed
There was no explanation.

That same night I watched the lights flicker in some houses
Left on from previous actions
The grid would continue to function for a bit longer
I heard the first cries from housebound animals
Hungry, alone, recognising their owners missing.

I closed my lights and tried to sleep
As I started to fall into sleep
Through my bedroom window I left my windowpane open
The light from my neighbour's place shone through
And suddenly it turned off and back on
My breath caught, a pounding of my heart.

That is when I heard it, from within
A scream.
Followed by another and another
As if hundreds of souls returned back.

I fell to sleep sometime later to a growing noise
A cacophony of utter noise,
Would I dream again tonight?