The Symphony of Silence

By Manasvi Mukherjee

The year was 3047 and the world was made of silence. Because no bird sang, no laughter rang and no whisper told a secret. This was not the outcome of catastrophe or neglect but a strange wrinkle in evolution. In their drive for perfection, humans had altered their DNA and removed imperfections. At some point along the way sound was considered superfluous. Rather communication turned in to an artful ballet of faces, motions, and colorful holograms.

To her, the silence was haunted. Vibrations under her fingertips on lonely nights-knew unusual, rhythmic patterns, almost like the pulse of some ancient beast.

Her village, Caldera, sat inside a ring of towering crystalline mountains; she had never been beyond its walls. Legends of an ancient power beyond the peaks circulated in hushed tones among the villagers- "sound," they whispered, as if it might have once existed, before being cast aside as uncivilized.

But those myths wouldn't leave Elara alone. One day, while she walked near the edge of the village, she came across a hidden cave. The walls gave off a soft amber glow and trembled around her. Even though she knew better, she went in. As she moved further inside, she discovered an object—a weird sphere that seemed to shine on its own. When she picked it up, a rush of feeling went through her. A deep echoing sound filled her head, unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

"Who dares to wake me?" This wasn't a voice, but a feeling, a vibration in her chest. Elara, caught off guard, released the orb. It hovered in front of her turning . "I am Sonar, the Sound Guardian," it continued. "Your kind silenced me ages ago worried about the chaos I could bring. In my absence, your world has lost its joy, affection, and even sorrow. Don't you want life's melody back? Elara struggled to find words—or emotions. Yet, something inside her craved more. "Show me," she mouthed, though her lips made no noise.

The sphere pulsated more strongly than before and then suddenly the cave was bright with light. Elena was no longer inside the cave. She was in a glade where the gentle zephyr floated over the leaf blades, the trees gently shook their foliage and there was a little stream that flowed over rocks. The various birds provided one more form of music, and somewhere far away, they could hear the rolling of thunder that was powerful and deep.

Her eyes were all melty. This is how the world once was – alive , vivid , mad. Now she comprehended as to why her forebears had stilled it – for sound was volatile, formless and omnipresent. But it was indeed heaven.

Elara’s village had been quiet and self-contained up until this point, detached from everything not close by. However, Elara’s attitude changed and she became more aggressive in her statements to the Sonar. “Why would you want to restore sound? Apart from serving as a tool to communicate with me, do you perceive sound's purpose to be different? Instead of answering my question, all you do is spout fiction, correct?" 

Elara spent extra time thinking about her people and what could happen once sound was restored. Elara thought of how terrifed her people would be, but also what a remarkably liberating sensation it would be. She understood right away that peace would be at the cost of freedom loss. Nevertheless, to Elara, loss of freedom belonged to the past - a trait of life that was simply unendurable. When it came to making camp, What kind of life was she aware she was meant to lead? One in which she never refused anyone, not even herself. “Bring me back, when the time is right”, Elara said to the Sonar.

The orb seemed to swallow her voice and in the next moment, it expelled a gust of energy into the atmosphere which spread the air around. There was the sound of the all the mountains barking and howling as the mountains of crystals became devastated into innumerable pieces just like glass. Elara, after some time, felt as if the ground on which she stood was moving as the world around her became active after such a long period of time.

Elara’s return to Caldera was accompanied by her render the villagers speechless since they had no idea the leaves would sway, the streams would babble, and thunder would growl along with the unknown whistling but only terror did the place spread. But as days turned into weeks, the fear among the individuals began to diminish. With children, who could not be heard of laughter before began to tell stories, musicians constructed instruments and finally elderly started sobbing after hearing the stories which were out for so long.

The girl, Elara, is simply referred to as the girl that ended the Symphony of Silence and became a symbol of hope when it was the need of the time. Even though one might Consider there was complete chaos, the colors, the emotions, and laughter along with the vitality were also never lost hope within one person even when it was bothered with uproar.

In the end in the end the blank faced contours surrounding the orb realized that sound was what gave life and commencing sound was a crime which was done after the world waited for considerable amount of time, were taught that silence was in fact gold.

By Manasvi Mukherjee