The Music of Silence

Silence. Silence is an odd concept to think about. Silence, as it is generally known, is simply the absence of sound. When you are in a dark room at night, you tend to think it is silent. But the truth is, silence is a much darker concept. When it is truly silent, when you no longer hear the hum of machinery, the chirping of birds, all the sounds of normal life, you realize something is wrong. The true meaning of silence is the absence of life. That is why when it seems to become incredibly silent, your brain takes notice. Your breathing quickens, you hear every beat of your heart, every thunderous crash of your feet. That is your brain telling you "Be careful, something is not right here." There came a time when everything went silent, but life had always defied the silence.
A plastic bag drifted silently in the wind high above the road the boy was walking on. He stopped for a moment to look at it, then continued his slow walk toward the dilapidated house at the end of the street. He was walking through a neighborhood street that was surrounded on both sides by houses. The house he was walking to looked like a wreck. Most of the doors and windows were broken down, and half of the roof had caved in. When he got to the empty doorway, he poked his head in to check to see if anything had changed, then he walked inside. The house looked no better inside, and only one hallway was open enough for him to squeeze past. He went through and ended up in what used to be a kitchen. There were no windows in this kitchen, so the interior was pitch black. He had been here several times before though, and didn't require any light to find the hidden trapdoor to a basement.
He lifted up the rusty hinges, and where there should be an earsplitting creak, there was nothing. He ignored this as it had become normal to him. The secret trapdoor led to a surprisingly well preserved basement. The basement was fairly small, around 15 by 15 feet. There was a couch that took up most of the north wall, and a few chairs scattered around the room. But the truly interesting thing, the one thing that made this room the most important room in this silent world, there was a piano. A beautiful, grand piano that was made of wood that shone with warmth and care. The boy did not know how the piano had gotten there, he only remembered one thing about himself. He knew that the piano was very important, and that at one time, it had made sounds. The boy did not know his name, and he did not know why the world was silent. He only knew that he existed, and it seemed that time never passed. The boy had been carrying a small back pack that he shrugged off onto the floor. He opened the pack and set the contents on the floor. The bag was filled with musical sheets. The boy had never felt hunger nor thirst in the silent world, so the only thing he did was roam the city for music. He began rifling through the musical sheets.
He had collected around 20 sheets, and many of them were ripped and torn. Most of the music was illegible, but 1 sheet was in perfect condition. It didn't have a title, which puzzled the boy. He remembered how to read, and he could read music, but he rarely saw sheets that didn't have a title. He had amassed a very large collection of sheets, and saved them all in a secret spot in the wall that could be pushed in. He took one of the sheets and sat down to play at the piano. He ran his hands over the glossy white keys and then set the paper on the rest above the keys. The piece looked very complicated, but he was sure he could play it. He placed one hand on the piano and pressed a key. And promptly fell out of his chair in response to the thunderously loud note that echoed in the small room.
He scrambled to his feet and stared incredulously at the piano. Never before had it made any noise. He had played many other songs on it to relieve the boredom that plagued him in this silent world. He walked over to the piano and pressed another note. A low thrum issued from it at his touch. He jumped again slightly at the foreign sense. He wondered why now after placing the odd sheet and beginning to play it, sounds began to appear. He sat back down and pushed another note. A high C issued from the piano. Another note, and then he began to play the piece. The song sounded incredibly loud against the silence, and the silence seemed to melt away like snow during the spring. He played with a fury, playing until the whole song was over. He leaned back and breathed heavily. And then he noticed something. He heard his breathing, his heartbeat, the sounds of his body. He stood up and stomped his feet. He heard the stomping and then he began to clap his hands and run around and try to make as much sound as possible. He stood still for a moment, then noticed something odd. A slight grey tinge had begun seeping into the very air, and it seemed to suck the very sound out of the air.
The boy stepped back quickly before the grey touched him. He accidentally backed into a chair and it fell over with a loud crash. The grey seemed to pause at the loud noise, but quickly redoubled its efforts to destroy the sound. The boy realized then. It was the silence. It had become something like a living thing and was trying to drown out the noise he had made. He quickly sprinted over to the piano, and began to play the song again. The grey seemed to rear back in pain and dissolve before the onslaught of music. He watched as the grey mist flew back up the trap door and disappeared. Then with no warning, the world ceased to exist.
The boy felt that he was floating in a sea of grey. It pressed upon him like a blanket, choking him and drowning him in silence. He reached out in a last ditch effort to save himself, and felt a piano key under his fingers. He pressed it and gasped as air flowed into his lungs again. A soft glow began to grow at the sound, but was quickly snuffed out by the silence. He pressed another key and the grey began to turn to black in anger. He fought the silence, struck out against the oppressive wall that tried to take his very breath away. It was trying to stomp out life, as life is the very opposite of silence. Where there is silence, there exists no life. A bright light began to dissolve the silence which seemed to silently scream in agony at the sounds that slowly destroyed it. And with a resounding explosion of sound, he finished the song and the silence broke.
He woke up on the ground in a place he had never been before. He sat up and looked around. He was sitting in the middle of a bright park that was resplendent in green and the ground was dappled in sunlight. He looked around and saw a bright red bird in a tree. It looked at him with no fear in its eyes and loudly chirped. The boy jumped and startled the bird. The birds in the surrounding trees took up their fellows cry and began a beautiful song. The boy stared up in wonder at the noise. The noises deafened him but he didn't care. He stood up and looked around in wonder at the color and sunlight. As he stared he heard a sound behind him and whipped around to see a family walking along a path. They waved at him and he tentatively waved back. They continued on their way, chatting with each other happily. The boy finally began walking and walked toward the houses he saw in the distance. He stopped for a moment and looked back, but seeing nothing, and hearing everything, he continued on his way.