Quiet Please

by Juliana Perry

It's funny how noisy the house is when everyone has gone to bed. I want to wrap myself in silence, surround my body with a comforter and muffle the sound of living. I do not yearn for something other than life, yet pure quiet is something I wish I could have for about 10 minutes. Like lying in a tub full of water as a child, head submerged and breathing carefully through my nose I can recall moments of quiet, except for the sounds of my own lungs breathing air. Perhaps a deprivation chamber would suffice and give me the silence I want so badly. Floating in complete and utter serenity, hanging on to life by the merest thread of breath passing through my lungs, pitch dark and sensory deprived; I can feel relaxation coming shortly, then I fart, it sounds like an explosion and so much for silence.

6S

Juliana Perry is a single mom of three, a lover of all things wine, cheese and bread, a maintainer of all things house and home, a student of business and psychology, and a professional scheduler and multitasker. She is the author of Third Generation Fat.