Different Kind of Silence - Part 1

It was Halloween night and all the older kids who thought they were “too old to go trick-or-treating” were looking at the scariest house on the block, not the one with the cannibal of course. They were far too scared to go near that house and even more so to admit that they were scared. It was the house of a witch. The witch was a woman who never left her home except to tend to her garden, (or is it a graveyard?!?) or to get food. On this Halloween night the older kids had decided to play a game of “Ding dong, the witch is ditched”. The first kid ran up to the house and knocked. The door opened widely and there was a flash of green before a single piece of candy was found on the porch. The door remained open as the children ran in fear from what had just happened.


Different was curious. He had never seen the humans act so weird before. Maybe it was some crazy human epidemic that was going around.

Why were they going from living space to living space gathering food?

Was it almost winter?

Different watched the humans with intrigue. His one compound eye made it easy for him to see everything that was taking place. Then a flash of green caught his eye and he focused the living space to which the humans referred to as "The Witch's House." Curiosity overwhelmed Different and he had to investigate the strange occurrence that had just taken place at the "Witch House." He was happy to find out that his investigating wasn't limited to the outside of the house.

The door was open.

Cautiously he stuck his head in and peered around. His senses worked overtime and his muscles tensed in case of an attack.

"Is a-any body... here?" he called out with his broken mimic English.

Just then, a loud bang sounded from a room in the back followed by a series of shuffling sounds. Different crept slowly toward the noise. He used the shadows to hide his vibrant colors. Well, I guess that answers the question if any body is there. The shuffling got louder before it stopped all together and then changed to the tapping of a person walking quickly followed by the sound of fabric rubbing against the floor. He froze, and quietly listened, hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice his presence.

A flash from a car passed through the window as it drove down the road and the light caught briefly on a short figure with pale green skin and dress made of patches that reached down to the ground. Two slick long antennas laid against the figure's back. The antenna resembled that of stitches much like the ones that were threaded into the figure's lips. Different tilted his head to the side slightly and made a friendly growling like noise to signal he wasn't a threat. He then began to approach the figure but made sure to keep his distance. He didn't want to be attacked today. That was the last thing on his to do list. The figure noticed Different and seem frightened. They jumped back, hit their back against a wall and fell to the ground. Different sniffed in the general direction of the mysterious figure that had just fallen.

"A- Are you... O...K?" His voice was that of several different voices intertwined with some clicks and chirps that resembled a bird. The figure's eyes widened and she curled into a ball, covering her head.

"Don n't be sca-scare...d. I m nisse," He crouched to make himself seem smaller and thus less of a threat. Then he crept forward bit by bit until he wasn't far from the frightened figure. "S-see?" The figure made a small sound and looked up with wide eyes. Different made a purring noise he picked up from a cat sometime ago and nudged the wide eyed figure's arm in hopes that she wouldn't be so frightened. Then he chirped softly. The figure shook but slowly uncurled from her ball and looked at the creature, waving her hand slightly. Different nodded to show he understood because his lack of arms prevented him from waving back. He then laid down, resting his head on the floor beside her.

The figure gulped, stood up, went into a room and came back with a speak 'n' spell that looked like it had been updated. She typed on the altered toy and a robotic voice spoke through the speakers.

{Hello my name is Sil. Who are you?} Different blinked at the device. He thought it was neat and stared at it for a few seconds. "C-ool. I... Am Diff-" He had trouble saying his own name sometimes. "Diff-fe-erent..." His difficulties with the word was because people had only called him "freak" or "weirdo" and he had only seen the word written. He always tried his best to pronounce it.

Sil understood what he was trying to say and smiled before typing again.

{Your name is Different? That's a neat name. My full name is Silence. Different, Silence.} A low chuckle escaped from her throat. He responded with a noise similar to a child giggling. One of the many noises he'd heard in this neighborhood. But as Sil typed her responses, Different became more intrigued by the mysterious talking device she was holding. "Wh... What is-s that?" He gestured with one of his feet. Sometimes he hated not having front limbs. 

{It's a speak and spell that I fixed up} She held the updated toy in front of Different so he could see it better. He sniffed it and poked a button but it didn't speak.

"How... D-does it...?" Different couldn't quite remember the word and became a bit flustered with trying to remember. "W... mm. wo..." A low hiss escaped his lips as he struggled.

Another low chuckle came from deep in Sil's throat before she pointed at a button that had the letters "TLK" written on it. Different nodded his head in understanding and pressed the button. No actual words were typed so all the device said was jibberish and he thought it was hilarious. He was happy he wasn't the only one with speech difficulties. Sil smiled and sat down next to Different feeling calmer.

{What are you doing here?}

Different shrugged despite the fact he didn't even have shoulder bones.

"N-not shur... En-end-ed up hee-re..."

{Well do you know where you came from?}

Different tried to remember, but his memories up until he lived in this neighborhood were hazy.

"I. Th... Thi-ink... I was cre-created by... whiiiite faces?" He started speaking in an unknown language comprised of what sounded like a series raptor noises with various clicks and chirps. He assumed that's how the white faces spoke.

To be continued...

^Maybe...