Not so Bad

Sadie Carson spent most of life in a silence. Not a pleasant or comfortable silence, although Sadie was pretty sure those didn’t exist anyways. Sometimes the silence became so deafening it would wrap itself around her slowly choking her. She would try to scream but could only let out a breathless pant. In her young teen years, she would go for weeks only saying a few words. It wasn’t because she had nothing to say, in fact, it was the opposite. She had these overwhelming abstract ideas that were too powerful to articulate. She would be so stuck pondering these thoughts that she found socializing with those her age to be unnecessary. They didn’t like her anyways. Now at the age of 18, she felt the same way.

Her parents became worried when she was a little girl and would sit at the edge of the playground watching the other children play. She would gaze at them for hours on end, watching the children and parents come and go. Some children would try to talk to her and get her to play with them, but Sadie would just sit there staring up at them with her big blue eyes and be completely unresponsive. Her parents tried to get her to socialize but it was helpless. They both were talkative and loved socializing. It was hard for them to understand Sadie’s needs or lack of. At one point they finally gave up trying and left her alone. To this day Sadie still can’t decide if it was a good thing or not that they ignored her.

There was only ever one person Sadie ever truly enjoyed talking to, however. An elderly lady who lived down the street from her. Her name was Mary Smith. Sadie had met her when she was only seven. Sadie spent lazy summer afternoons with Mary eating cookies and listening to stories of her childhood. One advantage of not talking often was that Sadie was an amazing listener. Every detail Mary told Sadie, she would let sink into her mind. In the eleven years, she had known Mary, she knew almost everything about her, and Mary knew more about her than even her parents did. Sadie knew about Mary’s daughter, Anne, and a little about her grandchildren, Gemma and Harry.

Currently, Sadie sat opposite Mary in Mary’s dining room, enjoying biscuits and tea. Sadie smiled fondly as she watched the senior animatedly tell her stories of her teenage years. Even at her old age, beauty and charm radiated off Mary. Mary had shown Sadie photos of herself in her younger years and she was absolutely gorgeous. Besides her external attributes, she also had a heart of gold and a warmth that surrounded her.

“I told him there was no way I was going to go on his motorcycle, but as I have told you countless times before, my husband was very convincing, especially in his younger years,” Mary said smiling adoringly. Her husband had passed away a few years ago due to cancer. Mary didn’t let it deter her happiness and always spoke so fondly of him. Sadie had met him a couple times before he had died, and he was truly a gentleman. He was the reason Mary moved to the US from England. Her accent made her entirely too endearing.

“So love, how is your family doing?” Mary said sweetly. Honestly, Sadie has no idea. They were always busy with work, and she wasn’t a priority. “Fine,” Sadie said softly, her voice slightly scratching from not being in use. “Good to hear,” Mary replied brightly. “Speaking of family I have some news!” Sadie’s ears perked up and connected her blue eyes with Mary’s grey ones. “My grandson, Harry, is coming to visit soon!” Sadie smiled politely, as Mary continued. “I’ve tried to convince him for the longest to come visit me, but he’s extremely busy with school and also he could never afford a ticket. He told me last night that he had been saving up for awhile and is coming to visit from Manchester! Isn’t it wonderful?” Sadie nodded lightly. She had met Anne, and seen pictures of Gemma, but only ever heard of Harry. All she knew was that he was older and lives in Manchester. She assumed he was kind considering he was related to the nicest person she knows. “He’s spending the entire summer here! You will just adore him, Sadie, I’ve told him all about you,” Mary continued. Sadie slightly blushed at the thought that people had been talking about her without her knowledge. “Maybe you two could be friends. I’m not going to be here for forever, and I would hate to think that you wouldn’t have a friend if I was gone. Also, he’s a strapping young lad, and last I heard, single,” Mary said with a suggestive wink. The pale layer of blush Sadie was already sporting, began spreading to the rest of her face all the way up to her ears, turning them bright pink. “Oh don’t be embarrassed dear! You are absolutely gorgeous, and have the personality to match,” Mary said seeming worried for Sadie’s feelings. Sadie began blushing even more at the compliments. She was not looking for a relationship of any type. She hoped Harry was really as nice as he sounded if he was spending the whole summer here. It was only May and Sadie didn’t want to have to spend the summer away from Mary just because her grandson was a jerk.

After a few more hours of banter, Sadie was out the door and heading down to her house. She decided to take the long way to enjoy the fresh summer air. As she walked, she began to notice the silence. A small panic began to spread through her chest. She was alone. There were no cars on the street or any people. The sun was slowly setting, and the light was dwindling away. No. Not now in public. The air that was once warm and comforting now began to make her chilly. The complete silence was scaring her. She began shivering trying to get her feet to move to take her home. After a minute of just standing there trying to move, she was finally able to take off. The sudden charge her feet carried surprised her. She rounded the street’s corner and ran straight into a body. She heard a low grunt coming from the person she ran into. She fell backward onto her butt and let out a high pitched squeak. Although her backside was now hurting, the end to the silence was comforting. She remembered the person she ran into, and slowly trailed her eyes up their frame until she saw a bright green.

Notes

Hi, so I've been gone awhile (by awhile I mean four months) whoops. I don't think I'll be updating my other stories unless I feel up to it, and I don't know when the next update will be on this one. Please comment if you like the story so far or not. Btw Mary Smith actually is Harry's Grandma irl, fun facts to know and share.