Silent Reading Novels & Stories

I waited until you chose to leave on your own. His voice was calm. "Now, you have. "So, I came to take you away." Outside the window, the lights of Palemore grew further and further away. I did not cry. I just watched the city fade away in the rearview mirror. Quietly, in my heart, I said, ‘Goodbye, Sicelia.’ Goodbye to everyone who never loved me.

“I’m not staring.” “You are,” he said. “You do it when you’re thinking about something you’ve decided not to say.” I looked up. He was facing just past my shoulder. Grey eyes finding the space near me with that particular angle that felt more like being seen than most people managed with full sight. “You can’t see me,” I said. “I don’t need to see you,” he said. “I can hear you thinking.” “You can hear me thinking,” I said. “The quality of your silence changes,” he said. “When you’re holding something back it has a different weight than when you’re just quiet.”

⸻ The city lay under a canopy of midnight blue, the streets emptying slowly as the late hour approached. Streetlights flickered softly, casting long, wavering shadows on the cobblestones, and in the quiet hum of the night, Serena felt the weight of anticipation pressing against her chest.

Simon — The Language of Silence He read the envelope four times. The first time was standing at the desk in the sitting room with the lamp burning and the house quiet around him and Mara's door closed and the city outside doing what it always did. He read it the way he read contracts — completely, without skipping, taking each line at its full weight before moving to the next. He read her handwriting, which was small and controlled and slightly left-leaning, the handwriting of someone who had learned to take up less space than they needed.

They giggled and whispered. Silas walked up onto the stage and stood in front of all of them with his hands placed on his hips. He cleared his throat. All of them immediately stopped talking and all eyes were on him. Power radiated off of him and his voice was loud and clear as he spoke out to them, "We have a visitor."

I was hyperaware of every sound and every faint rustle of leaves as I stepped deeper into the woods. My voice rang out, powerful and commanding. “Come out. I am here to surrender the royal decree.” My hand moved to my coat’s pocket, gripping the decree. “I have come alone as you asked. Now, show yourself.” Silence! Heavy silence followed my statement as I waited for the kidnapper, focusing on any movement around me. My patience ran thin soon, and then I lifted the decree up and waved it in the air, the parchment fluttering in the breeze. “Here are royal documents. Isn’t this what you want?” I called out, my voice cutting through the silence.

She wore nothing underneath. " Yes." She whispered. "I'm writing an important exam tomorrow and have to study." She turned her back on him and pretended to read her book. " You look so pretty when you're focused," he said next to her ear and the hair on the back of her neck rose. He ran his finger over her bare shoulders and then began to massage her. "Please don't ..." she whispered meekly and tensed up.

The drive over to the apartment was filled with an uncomfortable silence. Unasked questions hung in the air like a thick fog. Beads of sweat prickled on the back of the drivers neck as he too was smothered by the tension in the car. The seconds felt like minutes as the road seemed to stretch longer and longer before her eyes. Letting her eyes close, Thea suppressed a sigh as she leant her head against the window, she ignored the drumming of her head against the window as they drove over the bumpy terrain. Bellamy’s words playing on repeat in her head, ‘like our souls recognise each other’.

’ She gushes with glee. The silence deeps. The hootings go louder and louder. ‘We are on a mission.’ The sweet little voice belongs to the ever-so-silent Lily. She has pointed it out as a matter of fact but ends up sounding like a chicken whining for its mother hen’s attention.

My eyes blurred in and out of focus, the light in the room was blinding. “Focus, you need to calm down, slow your breathing, focus on the sound of your heart beating”. Her breath was hot on my ear as she seductively whispered. Breathing in and out, the sound of my heart beating became louder and louder, all the background noise fades. I was able to single out sounds by isolating and focussing on them, my vision was sharp, I stared at the bookshelf, focussing on the tiny words etched on the cover. I was able to read them, shocked I looked at Lenore.