X on a crowded bus. X in a crowded classroom. X in the crowded library. X in the midst of a crowd. Loud noises. X trying to move past a billion other X-es. X trying to take a breath and ending up inhaling the exhalation of other X-es. Finally, the silence. Ah, thank god for silence. One can always find some sort of...

Then someone says, "Please talk. It gets so lonely. The silence is unbearable."

"What?" X says.

And then the silence is gone.

Someone in conversation with someone. Someone spends the present moment talking about the past. What someone used to do, who someone used to be. Yak yak yak even if it is senseless this is better than not hearing a single sound i just need a single sound to remember that i do exist but not the sound of silence its too bare too painfully raw too yak yak.

In the midst of a crowd. Lost amongst the sea of black heads, booming voices, loud noises, love coming and going, life coming and going, the now, now coming and going.