“I’m hungry.” He said it aloud. In normal tones at first, then louder and louder until he was yelling it. “I’m hungry, I’m hungry, I’m hungry.” When he stopped there was a sudden silence, not just from him but the clicks and blurps and bird sounds of the forest as well. The noise of his voice had startled everything and it was quiet. He looked around, listened with his mouth open, and realized that in all his life he had never heard silence before. Complete silence. There had always been some sound, some kind of sound.
