Drabble Wednesday: Silence

Today on Drabble Wednesday, travel with me past the noise, beyond the chatter into the eerie world of macabre silence...

Stares

Painted masks and mute tongues.

That thought races in my brain as I stare at the three shrouded figures standing in judgement.

In judgement? Yes, that’s how I feel.

I know they wait for me at the end of this dark corridor, bathed in a soft blue light. I watch them, fear shuddering through my body.

Why am I frightened?

Perhaps because I feel compelled to move towards them. Perhaps I cower because I’m screaming, but no sound comes from my mouth.

I don’t want to face them. 

Perhaps I fear my sins wait at the end of the corridor. 

~*~

Depletion

It is peaceful here.

In this empty room. Only four walls, a floor and a ceiling.

Nothing else.

Not even sound.

Not even my own voice.

Then again, it is hard to speak without a tongue. I lost that appendage somewhere along the way. I don’t remember where, or when. A few other parts are missing too.

She took them, the little girl with black eyes. She appears sometimes and whispers in my ear. Her mouth never moves, but I hear her in my head. That’s when pieces of me go missing.

I expect she’ll take all of me eventually.

~*~

Flawless

Welcome to the Perfect Metropolis! Welcome to Solaris!

The flashing sign blinked noiselessly on the outskirts of the colony. A beacon leading into an urban sprawl of symmetrical spires and towers, all pristine silver and grey. Immaculate streets, no trash, no debris, no traffic.

Blocks of apartment complexes, office buildings, city structures, municipal centers, hospitals, security headquarters, laid out in neat rows. All lifeless. But not empty.

Robotic maintenance still moved, silent shadows doing their duty. Sweeping, cleaning, recycling the air. Keeping the oh so quiet city running.

While the flesh of the colonists’ corpses slowly rotted from their bones.

© A. F. Stewart 2017 All Rights Reserved