Must Have Been The Wind

When Ben first hears the sound, he thinks he is still dreaming. It's a loud shattering noise, so loud it woke him up. He sits upright in bed, listening intensely. It's silent for a few seconds before he hears the voice of a girl. Barely audible through the ceiling, but loud enough for him to hear that she'd been crying. At least that's what it sounds like to him.

He goes to lay back down in bed and closes his eyes. He needs to sleep, he's got an early day tomorrow starting his new job. He doesn't know the people living above him anyway, he only moved into the apartment building a couple of days ago.

But the tear drenched voice keeps whispering in his ear. What if the girl isn't okay? What if she is badly hurt? Isn't he obliged to help her? He feels like he is and he can't shake the feeling, despite how hard he is trying.

Before he can stop himself, he gets out of bed, throws something more decent on and closes the door of his apartment behind him. He takes the elevator to the second floor, walks down the hall and knocks upon her door.

The girl opens the door. The first thing he notices is how small she is. She probably doesn't even reach his shoulder. Her small frame is enveloped in an oversized sweater, completely zipped up to her chin. She doesn't say anything, but questions him with her big eyes.

"Hey," Ben says. "Sorry to bother you, I just heard a loud noise and wanted to check if you're okay." As he talks he notices how fragile she seems and wonders why anyone would ever hurt her.

She smiles softly, barely visible, and says: "I think your ears are playing tricks on you. Thanks for caring, sir, that's nice of you. But I have to go back in. Wish I could tell you about the noise, but I didn't hear a thing. Must have been the wind."

With those words she gave him one last smile and closed the door softly. Ben wasn't sure how to feel about that. He walked back to his own apartment, feeling a little lost. He didn't expect her to rebuff him so quickly.

Back in his own apartment, he lay down on the living room floor, the cold concrete pressing against his back. Putting a face to the voice makes him feel even more invested and he can't shake the feeling. He doesn't want to intrude, because he knows he doesn't have all the facts. But he can't bear the thought of leaving her.

After a few minutes of just lying on the floor, listening for any more noises, het gets up. It's been quiet for a while. He grabs his boom box and aims it at the roof, playing Lean On Me. Just so that she knows she can lean on him.

The song hasn't played all the way through when he hears a knock on his door. He turns the volume before he goes to open it. To his surprise and delight, the girl from the second floor is standing on the other side.

The soft smile graces her face again. Before she can open her mouth, Ben speaks: "Promise I'm not playing tricks on you. You're always welcome to come in. You could stay here for an hour or two if you ever need a friend. We can talk about the noise when you're ready, but till then I'll say it must have been the wind."

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Author's note: hope you enjoyed the first one. Not gonna lie, I'm not a huge fan of what I just produced, but I've got to get it out. Maybe I'll rewrite it at some point.

It's inspired by the song Must Have Been The Wind by Alec Benjamin. If you haven't already, go listen to it. It's beautiful. For now, I'll probably write a few more stories inspired by his songs or by songs of other artists. I'm trying to build up my writing again, and it'll take a while to get creative again. I'll try to get my stories more original as time grows.