The Silence Between

Ellie was walking through the market, the usual melee of thoughts surrounding her. A woman bartering for vegetables was thinking about her sick child. A man was worried about losing his job. Ellie heard it all — the undercurrent of humanity, as clear as spoken words.

Then, nothing.

For the first time in her life, Ellie couldn’t hear a single thought. She stopped. The market was still bustling, people still moving and talking, but the noise… it was gone.

In the middle of that strange silence stood a man. He was leaning against a fruit stall, casually, like he belonged there, but Ellie had never seen him before. His mind was a void, an empty space where there should have been something. No thoughts, no emotions. Just… silence.

She stared at him. He looked up, locking eyes with her, as if he’d been waiting. The world around them blurred. He smiled slightly, then pushed off the stall and began to walk away, disappearing into the crowd.

Ellie’s feet moved before her mind could catch up. She followed him, weaving through the market, desperate to understand how he was doing this. How could he be so… quiet? She couldn’t hear the thoughts of anyone around her anymore. It was just him. The quiet deepened, suffocating, pressing in on her from all sides.

Finally, he stopped in an alleyway. She caught up, her chest heaving with nervous energy.

“Who are you?” she asked, her voice trembling in the stillness.

He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked at her with eyes that seemed far older than his skin. “You wanted silence,” he said softly. “Now you have it.”

The man tilted his head slightly. “You don’t need to ask. Everyone wants peace from the noise eventually. But there’s a cost.”

“What cost?”

His smile faded. “The silence grows. First, it’s the noise of others. Then, it’s your own thoughts. Soon, there’s nothing left. Just silence.”

Ellie shook her head, backing away. “No, I don’t want that.”

“It’s already begun,” he said quietly, his voice barely more than a whisper. “Once you notice the silence, it never stops growing.”

Panic surged in her as she turned and hurried away, back into the market, hoping to hear the buzz of other people’s thoughts again. But there was nothing. Just silence.

And in that silence, she heard the faintest sound, like her own voice slipping away. All she could feel was arms coiling around her as she closed her eyes and let herself be pulled into the void.