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kat_lair***
Title: (hear my words) that i might teach you
Author:kat_lair
Fandom: Call the Midwife
Character: Sister Monica Joan
Tags: Spooktober, Ficlet, Character Study
Rating: G
Word count: 230
Summary: In Sister Monica Joan’s experience, more horrifying than any noise is the lack of it.
Author notes: Spooktober 2024, Day 17/31. Prompt/theme: Silence. Title very obviously from 'Sound of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel.
(hear my words) that i might teach you on AO3
In films, the characters scream when scared, high-pitched and loud. The monster roars, the tense music crescendos, and the audience jumps, exclaiming in fright that soon dissolves into laughter. Or, well, so Sister Monica Joan is led to believe, of course, since those are not the kind of screenings that a Sister of the Order of St. Raymond Nonnatus must be caught attending.
Many people are afraid of loud noises. Crash of thunder, slam of a door, bang of a gun. Sister Monica Joan understands why. Sounds like that signify something changing, something breaking, perhaps permanently. War too is noisy, even away from the frontlines. She remembers well the piercing wail of an air raid siren, the whistle of a falling bomb, the shattering explosion that follows. It’s the kind of music that stays with you, layers itself between the familiar tune of hymns until you can sing it in your sleep.
And yet, in Sister Monica Joan’s experience, more horrifying than any noise is the lack of it. The stillness after the bombs have fallen, when nothing moves except the dust floating down. A desperate plea for help that goes unanswered. The absence of a scream after a birth.
The quiet of an empty house, where no one asks you for anything, because you are no longer needed.
These are the things she fears. Not sounds.
But the silence.
***
Title: (hear my words) that i might teach you
Author:
kat_lair Fandom: Call the Midwife
Character: Sister Monica Joan
Tags: Spooktober, Ficlet, Character Study
Rating: G
Word count: 230
Summary: In Sister Monica Joan’s experience, more horrifying than any noise is the lack of it.
Author notes: Spooktober 2024, Day 17/31. Prompt/theme: Silence. Title very obviously from 'Sound of Silence' by Simon & Garfunkel.
(hear my words) that i might teach you on AO3
In films, the characters scream when scared, high-pitched and loud. The monster roars, the tense music crescendos, and the audience jumps, exclaiming in fright that soon dissolves into laughter. Or, well, so Sister Monica Joan is led to believe, of course, since those are not the kind of screenings that a Sister of the Order of St. Raymond Nonnatus must be caught attending.
Many people are afraid of loud noises. Crash of thunder, slam of a door, bang of a gun. Sister Monica Joan understands why. Sounds like that signify something changing, something breaking, perhaps permanently. War too is noisy, even away from the frontlines. She remembers well the piercing wail of an air raid siren, the whistle of a falling bomb, the shattering explosion that follows. It’s the kind of music that stays with you, layers itself between the familiar tune of hymns until you can sing it in your sleep.
And yet, in Sister Monica Joan’s experience, more horrifying than any noise is the lack of it. The stillness after the bombs have fallen, when nothing moves except the dust floating down. A desperate plea for help that goes unanswered. The absence of a scream after a birth.
The quiet of an empty house, where no one asks you for anything, because you are no longer needed.
These are the things she fears. Not sounds.
But the silence.
***