BANG! I jumped up In my chair and nearly dropped my book. 1 turned and realized that someone had slammed the door close. I could her shrieks and angry cries coming from my mother's room and felt as if World War 111 had started there.

Cars honked outside. Somewhere probably in the new teashop, someone was playing disco music loud enough to wake up the dead.

In closed my book and leaped into my bed. covering my ears with a pillow. All around there was noise, noise and more noise. Oh. how much 1 longed for a silent world! I felt like taking a microphone and standing on top of the world (if that was possible) and shouting out to everyone. "SHOT UP." Maybe I could stand on a globe and do that Instead. A small giggle escaped by throat when I realized the weirdness of the thoughts.

I closed my eyes shut lightly and tried to relax, slowly. I drifted into sleep. Only moments later. I was awake again. With wide eyes. I l> Miked around myself.

All around me. I could see sand. the bluest waler ever, and lush green trees. Was I in a dreamland? I rubbed tny eyes and looked again. I was in a beach but this one was so different from any I’d ever seen. There was no defeaning noise coining from radios, no fights going on about which game to play, no chattering between teenage girls, no one even uttered a single word. Everything was so quiet. I felt a smile spread on my face. This was the sort of world I longed to be in.

I walked towards a turning I could see at the end of the beach, and found a road leading away from it. It was filled with cars. But the amazing thing was that I could not hear any horns blaring, or any drivers sticking their head out of the window land shouting their head off. The cars seemed to move In a steady

flow I followed the flow and soon saw a neon sign (lashing above a door, it read: DISCO PLACE. My parciied throat told me that I was badly in need of a drink, so. I entered the place. Everyone was drinking, playing, or dancing but there was complete silence In the room. 1 could hear no taperecorder playing or any piano music. Dancing without music! I stared at the dancers and then realized that they were wearing headphones. This was the weirdest thing I'd ever seen.

I went towards the bar. Just as I was ordering, a woman came beside me and pointed at something written on a board. I could barely make it out to be "Red Wine." The board' consisted of a whole list of drinks. The barmen poured her the drink without getting any fur ther request. I gathered that she could not speak since she had given no verbal order. But then I saw quite a few people following the same manner as that of that lady. Couldn't any of these people talk?

"Excuse me, could 1 have a ...". I stopped in mid-sentence. Everyone stared at me through startled eyes.-They were all ad vanclng towards me with their eyes boring into me. I felt as If I was an alien. To say that I was feeling scared was an understatement. I ran outside as fast as I could and then stopped abruptly. 1 didn't know what to do or where to go.

This was a silent world. 1 did not belong over here. 1 wanted to go back to hy home but didn’t know how. I cried out loudly as tears squeezed out of my closed eyes. Next thing I knew, my eyes snapped open and I was back in my own room. I let out a relieved laugh. It had only been a dream: rather a nightmare. 1 could hear all types of noise now but these seemed to comfort me instead. I realized that I would not be able to live anywhere else; not even for'the sake of my peace. I loved this world, not the silent world.