The Brave New World Was a Lie - Inspired by "The Sound of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel

Hello Darkness, my old friend.
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision
That was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

Mara stared into the darkness of her isolation cell, contemplating how many weeks she’d been trapped in darkness and silence. The former assassin had a first class ticket aboard the prisoner transport Subiugāre bound for the penal colony on Gliese 581d. The prisoners were supposed to work to build cities for the aristocracy who were eager to leave Earth behind. The place was a toxic waste dump with rapidly diminishing resources and the filthy masses were scrabbling for what little was left.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone.
Beneath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed
By the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

There was nothing for her to do but lie down. She winced as the needle for the intravenous nutrition system stabbed between her shoulder blades. A dark chuckle escaped her as she closed her eyes, hoping that she would never open them again.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share…
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.

Mara’s eyes did open again. It was because the ship was shuddering as if it were being torn apart. She sat up and the intravenous nutrition system disengaged, leaving blood to trickle between her shoulder blades. A startled cry ripped from Mara’s throat as the ship suddenly stopped moving with a sickening crunch. The impact flung her across the cell and her head hit the thick metal wall with a sickening crack. After a moment of searing pain, she succumbed to blissful oblivion.

”Fools,” said I, “you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you;
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed in the wells of silence.

When Mara came to, she experienced light for the first time in more than a month. She squinted and swore at the pain in her head. She jumped when someone spoke beside her. “We’re two of the very few survivors. I wasn’t sure if you were going to wake up.” Mara turned and let her green-gold eyes focus on the man’s face. He was a scruffy-looking blond with unreadable gray eyes.

“What do you care, anyway?” Her voice was dull and devoid of any emotion.

“I couldn’t risk exploring on my own. We didn’t make it to Gliese. This planet is wild and apparently uninhabited. Some of the other inmates have already threatened cannibalism if they can’t find anything edible in the surrounding area. I don’t know about you, but I’m not too keen on being eaten.”

Mara rolled her eyes and ran a hand through her waist-length brown mane. “Why me?”

The man shrugged his broad shoulders. “Call it a misplaced sense of chivalry.” He stood and extended his hand to her. Without knowing why, Mara took it and followed him into the underbrush, leaving the rubble from the Subiugāre behind.

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made,
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming,
And the signs said: “The words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls,
And whispered in the sound of silence.”

((The lyrics are from “The Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel. I have no idea where I want this to go, but this is where the muse took me. Feel free to join.))

I write like
James Joyce

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