(Author’s Note: None! I am back to life, back to the writer’s gallery. I have 13 more months in Korea. Let’s celebrate with a story!)
© Roger Bultot
Sounds of Silence
by Miles H. Rost
It was a shock to the Garbarthian space crew when they heard nothing.
For 27 earth years, they were able to study and learn about its inhabitants and the various strange things that were around them. They had gone to sleep on the eve, waiting to see what would come.
There was no sound that next morning. Nor the morning after. They heard faint horns, faint chatter, but the small cactus they used as their listening device heard nothing.
For 11 days, they heard nothing. They went back into the playback to hear the last moment.
*click* BANG! *click* BANG!
Nothing more.
Music and Fiction 
Hehe, I love the idea that the cactus is the listening device. The soundtrack was a nice touch too 🙂
Beautiful imagination, especially the cactus!
Ouuu, good one! 🙂
Clever. 🙂
Nicely done. Loved the tie to Sounds of Silence.
Fun read… 27 years is a long time for such a device to last…
Ha, I didn’t even notice the cactus at first!
A cactus as a listening device, that is ingenious.
I had to read it twice, didn’t get it all at first. Interesting take on the prompt.
very nice! Think the most surprising part was the cactus as a listening device 🙂
27 years. That is almost enough time for the calendar cycle to repeat itself, so dates fall on the same day of the week (including Feb. 29).
Such a bleak thing–– waiting and listening, only to hear the end.