"What a pleasant sound to hear…

The sound of the world making its own music..

even though we don’t even hear it..”    
 

My name is Ashley Ray, and I never really went outside before. I’ve been confined to my room for quite some time now, I think its because my mother told me the outside air could kill me. So I don’t go any  farther than the living room. My whole life I wanted to go outside, and  I never made many friends in the years I’ve been kept here, except my friend Marla Hopkins who goes to a public school. We found out about each other over a online class session. Every student gets on their webcam or mic and listens to the online teacher's recording. Since it’s just a recording, we can’t really ask questions, so most of the problem solving is left to us. Marla and I always found ourselves working together the most, and we just talked to each other ever since. She can go outside, yet she doesn’t attend school because the teens tease her about her skin problem. Apparently she has this skin condition to where she doesn’t have skin pigment in some place. She was a very dark African American girl, so the pink spots were sort of hard to ignore, but I didn’t care. She told me how much she liked music, and how classical music always made her cry with joy. She told me of her dream to one day play classical music on the violin, and make songs for all to enjoy. I never heard music, my mom doesn't sing, and she doesn't allow radio or television. She tell me how the world is corrupt and that T.V. and radio will only corrupt my 14 year old mind. I never cared what she’d say, I wanted to hear music! As I fell asleep, I thought of the songs that I heard that night, and I never slept better.

 

 Marla told me “Birds do it all the time, just raise up your window.” But I knew I couldn’t do that, I still feared what my mom told me about the outdoors. So one night I asked Marla to send me an Mp3 of classical music, she agreed, and that night I heard the most beautiful collaboration of sounds that I couldn’t even put into words. My mother caught me and told me if I ever listen to radio, even though it wasn’t, or talk to Marla again she would kill me before the air did. So she confined me to my room. I stared at my window for the rest of the night, and wondered if my mom was just a liar! I heard music for the first time, and it didn’t make me feel dirty, it made me feel happy! Well it was settled, tomorrow I would go out side and feel the rays, find Marla, and most of all hear music. At 3:30 in the afternoon I got up to the window and removed the nails with what ever I could find. I cut my hands so many time to where the blood was making my hand slip off my tools. Finally the nails were off, and I lifted the window with all my might. To my surprised it flung upward and a warm breeze grazed my face. The air smelled dry and sweet. The light blinded me as I fell out into the beautiful world I never knew. I squinted as I walked, trying to depict what is where. But I heard something…. And it was…The…world! As my eyes slowly evened out, it was all still blurry but I heard something. High-pitched chirping, and it was repetitive! It was birds! The birds Marla told me about. But I slowly started to feel sick and I didn’t know why, but that wasn’t going to stop me. I followed the sound I ran to it until………..

I’m on the ground. This hard solid rock ground staring up at the the blue sky… I started to feel cold, but I still heard the the sounds of beeping and honking, chirping and screaming. But I didn’t care. What a pleasant sound to hear.. The sound of the world making it’s own music even though we don’t even hear it.. It brought a smile to my face. In all my 14 years of life, I finally smiled. As the birds sung their cadence of life. They sung that to me, until I finally fell asleep…………

(hope you enjoyed the story thank you, Please comment it means a lot <3)                                                                  - Zayo