...............Silence...............…
Something that can be used in all five W's of writing, for example…
WHO ARE YOU?!?! … WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?!? … WHEN DID YOU GET IN!?!?! … WHERE!?!? … WHY DO THIS!?!? … And don't forget about HOW AM I ALIVE!?!? …
Strong and upfront when in said silence, yet fragile enough to be broken by a single sound.
~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~ ~Jingle~
Or to be more specific the sound of an alarm. Followed with the groans of a man who fell asleep watching a movie.
"Crap! Time for work already?" Grumbled the half-awake man, who in his sleep had drooled all over his couch cushion.
...…~Jingle~ ~Jingle–Thuck!..."Haaa, let's do this" drowsily said the man wiping the drool off his face before making his way into the bathroom.
FLUSH! And into the kitchen he went.
With a click here, a thud there, from opening the fridge to a plop into the microwave comes the greatest breakfast of them all. Ding!
A burger! And not just any burger, a gas-station burger! One of many recently bought nearby his apartment. "Now then…let's see what movie it turned to?", the man commented while bringing the burger to the couch.
"Someone Inside? Sounds obvious, probably a horror or thriller. Wait…Was that why my dream was so weird?" Questioned the man. Shrugging off the thought, he munches the burger while the movie plays in the background.
In a minute flat, the man had eviscerated the burger before he could even look up to continue the movie. "Hmm…I can go for another one" Click, thud, open, plop, and ding! MUNCH! Gone again, another one lost to the void known as the stomach.
Yet, in the midst of indulging himself in his own gluttony, time still ticks on and mercilessly. And now…"6:34? Eh, Still got time" Shrugging off the fact that he might be late, the man cleans up and turns his head towards the movie.
Boom! BAM! And loud gasping breaths following the shaking camera. The screen turns to what seems to be the protagonist looking back at the explosion. Before finally smiling, with red and blue lights flashing the screen…Que credits…
…"Haaaa. The universe itself is asking me to go to work"…Annoyed, the man turns off the television and starts to prepare for work. Grabbing his work uniform, badge, wallet, keys, and of course burgers in his lunch box. He reached out to the doorknob and exited his apartment.
Thuck! The sound of the closing door echoes down the hallway, as the lights turn on with the presence of the man. And as the shadows reign in themselves, a glint of metal is shown in this moment of brightness.
Before being grabbed by the man and in doing so reveals who this man is, Vick Doh. With his company logo in the background, his photo is shown.
A man with black hair, dark brown eyes, with an awkward smile facing the camera. Clip! Finally the badge was attached and Vick continued on walking to the elevator.
Click! Vrrm! "YawwWWnnnn…., please make me have no work today, PLEASE!" Vrrm! Second floor Vrrm...Ding! Walking out the elevator, Vick plops a mint into his mouth before walking out.
"I might as well be a rooster at this point." Mumbled Vick as he walked into the darkness lit up by lampposts. Shivering, as the morning cold brush pasts his skin, immediately waking him up from his drowsiness.
Beep! Getting into his car, Vick is relieved from the chill as he starts to heat up his car. Before putting on his playlist and driving off onto the streets waking with people starting about their day.
~Hmm~ ~Hmm~ Humming along with his playlist, his body starts to beat along with the 'beat'. Adrenaline pumping his body and blood rushes throughout, waking his body into a dancing stillness.
A silent vibration humming within this stirring morning, with which a desolate coldness basks the Earth in its embrace of indifference. Yet when facing this scene, Vick hums a vibrant song shaking this desolate embrace.
A colorful vision within such an absent setting, as if unaffected by the world around. A positive energy of sorts that seems to spread from Vick, as he starts to move his body according to the beat. Creating a confusing image of a man jamming in his car whilst the dark seems to devour even the semblance of joyfulness.
But all things come to an end, as he finally reaches his workplace's parking lot and the music is put on hold. "7:16…" Immediately, Vick turns the music back on and starts to dance in his seat.
7:18…~AY~ ~OH~...7:21…~LETS~ ~GO~...7:25…A coworker parks near him, as Vick is distracted by the music. The coworker, as if used to it, ignores Vick and starts to look through their phone.
~Light up the world!~...As the song finally ends, the time hits 7:30, no other songs are continued, and the quietness emerges...
With silence overtaking noise, Vick sighs before grabbing his keys and exiting his car. And along with him were his coworkers who had got there while Vick was distracted.
Thud Thud…Into work he went, with a wave of his badge, the door opened and Vick entered the building. Clocking in, coworkers start to flow into the building.
"Morning" "Sup" "Auugg" Nods followed by greetings, the last response was how everyone felt…and on they walked into a room with booths that held their offices.
Booths holding four offices within them.
In the booth Vick was in, held one office with multiple pictures of the person and their family, another had an entire computer set up along with a mouse pad that covered the desk, there was an office full of decoration, and then there was his.
A booth revealing a desk with drawers, a computer set up in the middle, a rolling chair, a small trash can in the corner, and a couple decorations throughout. A basic and organized office space, plain but suspicious.
And as Vick and his coworkers settle into their office, their supervisor comes into the room with papers in his hands.
"Mornin" Yawned the supervisor, as he started handing out papers and came to the middle of the room before addressing everyone,
"Had a good weekend everyone? 'Cause you're about to need it…" Pausing in the middle of this, he holds out the paper.
"Here are the papers that'll ruin your day." Everyone looked at the paper they were given and understood immediately what the problem was.
"Yeah…I know…We all are going to stay overnight today" He answered while staring with a certain hate at the bold words atop of the paper…Department Change…
In other words…Work added onto work…"Haaa" "Noooooo" "Damn it" "Uggg"
As everyone in the room groans one after another, the supervisor starts to explain.
"And I know we all got the email a while ago, but the papers in front of you are the work you need to do today, if not we won't hit the quarterly mark."
Understanding the inevitable, they begrudgingly accepted the situation.
Continuing on, the supervisor says, "Also, some of you were sent emails on some different materials so make sure and check." Before leaving the room of despair.
"Haaa" Vick sighs as he slumps into his seat while the others start their work.
Suddenly in the booth next to him someone says, "Hey Vick" He turns to the noise.
Staring at this man, known as Carl, he mumbled "Yeah? What's up?" Carl proceeds to grab out his phone and show Vick a photo of his son.
"Hm? Yeah, Darren, your son?" Questioned Vick. Before immediately Carl says, "What's around his neck?"
…Silence was all Vick answered back as he started to notice the medal on Carl's son. Before jumping to his feet, "First place!? Congrats man, how close was it?!"
"HEH, I know right!?" Paused Carl as he then coughs, "But, it was the judge's decision".
"Darren won one?!" "Hm?!" Getting interrupted by the boothmates in front of them. Carl shushes them before answering, "Calm down, I'll tell you how he did it. Step by step..." Pausing for dramatic effect, before continuing,
"First, it was like a scene straight out of a book! Like a knight against a dragon, an ant against a whale, or some other situation that fits the fight!" Exaggerated Carl, as he proudly announces the beginning.
"My boy was wrestling against someone twice as big as him! Tossing and turning, rushing and running, and finally he goes in for a headlock! However, his opponent was no ordinary kid, he pushed, pulled, and fought back! Blow for blow, it seemed that there was no let up for both! Until finally the bell rang and everyone was waiting nervously for the final result!"
Carl excitedly tells tales, as Vick turns to look at the coworker in the booth ahead of him. "Hey Mat! Just pull up the video, so we know what actually happened to Darren."
"Mmn." Mat nods, grabbing his phone and searching up the video. "Hey. I got the video." Mat taps Carl, stopping his immersion.
However, the last boothmate across from Carl suddenly warns the booth, "Zero!" With a speedy plop, the booths enter a dead silence with only clicks from the mouse and keyboard…
And as the supervisor entered the room, the booths around him quieted down. Unknown to him, were the booths messaging each other.
'Your a lifesaver Brohan' 'ur welcom' 'Mateo send the video over' 'I gotchu' 'Hey come on man, why don't yall want to hear my story?' 'That's becau0' …click click…
With such a sudden twist in the texts, the group itself seems to turn into highschoolers, hiding their activities within the silence. The group watched the pride of Carl shine through as the supervisor exited the way he came.
'dam how much he wey agn?' 'I know, impressive right!? He wrestled someone 6 pounds heavier than him!' 'How much he weigh though?' … '82 pounds' '82 to 88? That seems alr' 'Nah! Yall don't know anything! Here, I'll explain'...….
The video and conversation continued on for a couple minutes before finally ending in the victory of Darren. 'Congrats' 'nice' 'let go daren' 'He takes after me!' And with such a finish came the start of actual work. …'What are we going to do now?' 'work'... 'Fuck'
Click click tap tap tick tock tick click tock tick tock…Time passes, but as if having enough of the situation, Rohan stands to get himself something to wake himself with.
"Ah, before you go grab me a drink too" Vick hurriedly grabs a couple dollars out his wallet before giving it to Rohan, "M'kay" Rohan nods while grabbing the dollars.
…And with the exiting Rohan, came the feeling of wanting to get away from work. Turning his head to scan the room, Vick immediately ducks his head into his booth.
Crouching in the booth, Vick opens the drawers to reveal nothing but ordinary papers, clips, pen, and any office materials. However, as he grabs the paper out, it reveals a hidden box beneath the papers.
And with a slow and methodical movement, the box is quietly removed from the drawers. Being about the size of the papers, the box itself was quite hefty as Vick put it onto the ground.
Unfortunately, even with such precise silence, the plop from opening the box alerted the booth of such an event.
Click click click Plop! Cli–.... Vick, hearing no noise, felt a cold sweat rolling down his spine, a sort of tenseness that could ruin anyone under the pressure.
A pressure that seems to originate past the walls of the booth… "Mind sharing?" Pressure from a being known in times of boredom, Mateo.
"I'll share just be quiet" Vick whispers, as he grabs the snacks in the box.
Bribing the bored man, Vick is able to silently enjoy chips and candy that seems to energize himself into working again. Click Tap "Not going to share with your friend?" "Haaa, fine"
Finally, after appeasing everyone present, Vick returned to work.
Tick Click Tock Click Tick Tock tick tock…12:18…12:19
Tick toc–With multiple eyes moving from the screen to the time, going back and forth…12:20… as if waiting for something…12:23…12:27…12:29......…The last minute was always the longest.
Tick–12:30 PM BREAK! Some stand immediately, others finish up, the rest start gathering their stuff, unfortunately work had a vice grip on Vick's booth.
As Rohan was still on a call, Carl was finishing up a spreadsheet, Mateo had the unfortunate fate of getting the new materials, and Vick was faxing papers.
12:33 Fax done…12:38 Call ends…12:45 Finished work…12:4–Materials gone!
As if regaining their youth, their bodies rush off into lunch with mad efficiency.
Carl swiping cards, Rohan opening doors, Vick grabbing the lunch boxes, Mateo getting drinks from vending machines.
Air blows past the ears of these men, as they slip into an empty room and hurriedly spread out the food and drinks.
A quick but effective lunch, with small banter here and there. "What'du mean, Rain Man beats Queen Diva!" "Come on! Statistically, Rain Man beats people stronger than her on a daily basis!"
12:55 "Come on! How'd you even catch that!"…12:58 "Sniff, your the best!"… "HAHEHAEHE–BEEP! BEEP! 1:00PM.....
"Soooo, who's going first this time?"...Silence answered back before,
"I went the last two times, so your turn Carl" "What!? Please! No! Mat you go!" "Rock, paper, scissors?"
"I'm kidding, I'll go" Interrupted Vick, as Carl looks at him in tears… "You'd sacrifice yourself for me?" Sniffed Carl.
"Nah, I'm making your sacrifice longer" Smirked Vick as he exited the room holding his lunchbox. "Huh? What do you mean? What does he mean?!" Carl exclaims looking for answers.
And with victorious gait, Vick slowly walks the hallway while listening to the noise behind him.
"I've been first twice for a week already" "Me too, and I think that's Vick's second time this month" "So counting that and the fact that it's only the second week of the month means…"
"Wait, was that why? No way!…NOO!" Gasping, Carl figures out the devious plan that the group had cooked.
The day was the 9th, a Monday. There are five workdays and two weekdays, if Mateo, Rohan, and Vick took two. In addition with a sacrificial switch, in which the members took every other day apart from each other. Wouldn't it be common etiquette for Carl to take two days too?
And taking into account the fact that the group had been so kind as to make Carl rest for an entire week from the consequences, wouldn't it make more sense to have Carl take first place, one after the other?
Vick smirks as he walks away hearing Carl's despair. Before turning to gloom, as he faces the music. Because what is happiness without sacrifice?
And as if already knowing his fate, the manager is seen in front of the booths adding more to Vick's fellow coworkers work.
From "Hey, get this done by the end of the day" to "Here, take this list and try to figure out which ones transferring over"
An inevitable fate of the first… "Hey Vick. I'm going to need you to go to the media department to get this done…Bla bla bla blablablablablalbla"
"Got it" Vick says weakly, barely even memorizing the things the manager had asked him to do.
And with such a task explained, the manager turns to his other victims and starts his mouth again.
Vick in the background of this, sets off to his tasks, before texting his fellow boothmates of the danger today.
With a slump, Vick sighs as he walks while looking at the list in his hands. Yet, as soon as Vick enters an empty room, he quickly plops an earpod into one ear and as quick as the gloom came, it vanished when the beat hit.
With each rhythm, Vick's back began to straighten whilst skipping to his tasks. A quick click of the button along with the beat, he starts printing papers. 1, 2, 3 papers come out in an order following the beat of the song.
A tap of the foot along the floor, he arrives at the office to deliver the papers. A swish, comes with a quick hop, of course with no one around. Finally with a silent clap, a task is done.
Noddings to the music adds flavour to the task of organizing a list of clients for the day. And a humming that stirs awake the elevators, opening up to another floor.
Pop! Clap! Hop! Click! Swish!
A rhythmic beat that fastened up the efficiency and awoke a childlike wonder during these slow and boring tasks. And the music fades away the tasks, one by one, until finally
"~Its ThE eNd~" Vick sang in his monotone voice, cracking due to the high vocals. Slipping off his outfit, now full of sweat, Vick starts to fan himself while flapping his shirt in order to cool himself.
2:13 PM
Vick looked at his phone, before returning to the booths to finish up for the day. Arriving at the booths, his friends are seen clicking and typing. And Vick himself starts to work…Or to be more specific, like the rest of his booth, pretend to work.
From the clicks of creating tabs and deleting them, to clicking the desktop homepage repeatedly, and the random creations of spreadsheets, documents, files, etc.
'fin?' 'Ye, same ol stuff' 'How was it?' 'Bet it had you running' 'Yeah, but it true we doing the media stuff since change?' 'yea' 'For real?' 'Yeah' 'Damn it'
A grin appears on the face of Vick, as he is visibly shaking in his seat from happiness. Before coming to a stop, Vick continues to pretend so as to avoid suspicion.
3:00 PM
Work is officially done, stirring awake the people within the booths. A quiet rumble of exhilaration, as people began filing out the room after finishing up their "work". Vick and his booth follow along with these people after finishing up.
Mondays, especially ones where work has been added atop of work, are incredibly tiresome. Understanding this, Rohan, Carl, and Mateo said their farewells to Vick for the day.
"Finish up whatever you got and get some rest, I know you'll need it man" Mateo says patting Vick on his shoulders before turning his car.
"Alright, gotta get back to family, so see y'all tomorrow" Carl mentions after chatting with Rohan. "Yep, see ya" Rohan replies.
Beep! Thud!
And in synchronization, the group drove off to their own business.
Vroom...Click! Playlists start! ~Sun, here it shines~
Just like the lyrics, outside the car showed what was once missed from the early morning drive.
Rush hour. The cars packing the busy highways, people wandering the streets, and buildings bustling with business. Creating a loud yet orderly peace.
Yet, the loudness seems to clear itself as Victor exits the highway into a flowing stillness that inhabits the suburban homes and buildings.
And as Victor drives through these sounds, he gets a couple meals for himself before leaving for his apartment.
Vroom…Click! Beep! Finally! Home at last…Sighing, Victor enters the elevator and gets to his room.
"What time is it?" Mumbling while looking at the time.
4:23 PM
"Yeesh! My orders took a bit." Exclaims Victor as he sets his bag of food down onto his counter. Before getting comfortable in his homewear and slumping into his couch in order to finish up his work.
With each click, the time ticked. With swipes of the mouse, yawns came from the drowse. With taps on the board, Victor became bored.
Unknowingly, the bag of food he got earlier seems to appear next to Victor, getting emptier as he drains the bag of its contents
Thus, the last tap sounded, before the silence as it overtook the noise whilst Victor finally relieved from work stretches across his couch.
"HUAAAAAAaaa SccrREww YOuuuu!" Moaning into the stretch, he lays on the couch basking in the comfortability that comes with stretching after becoming stiff from work.
5:49 PM
Immediately looking at his messages, Victor sees a multitude of texts going back and forth from each other.
From 'donzo' 'Same' 'what we doin tmw?' 'idk but yall hear bout that new restaurant?' 'one replacing sippin shrimps' 'ye, it over there at clearway' 'let go then' 'alr'
To the many memes and videos that seem to take over the entirety of the group chat. Only to be replaced by more nonsense.
'I'm done too, we checkin out new place?' 'let go!' 'ye' 'Arithmetic' 'ye of course arithmetic' 'Arithmetic, I understand' 'Ey it autocorrect'....
With tomorrow planned out, Victor is relieved from work and socializing. Finally, Victor could have his alone time.
Sitting up and turning on his laptop, he delves into the internet....
Searching for novels, books, manga, comics, even fanfiction, anything that could interest him enough to read. For he was no pervert but a reader of peak fiction!
And alone he is, reading whatever he could from the websites he frequents everyday. In the background of it all, music is playing out of his laptop seemingly increasing Victor's energy as he relaxes.
Yet, as it hit…
9:30 PM
Victor's energy sapped.
He had to sleep or he'll never wake up on time.
…And so he slept…