It was quiet enough to be mistaken for silence when I walked from one store to the next in the strip mall that night. I could catch a glimpse of my breath every now and then against the dark sky before it disappeared again. There were people who moved across the parking lot and silhouettes that moved in store windows, but I barely noticed them. They were strangers and strangers are easily lost in the crowd.
But him…he was missing. It couldn’t be completely silent without him there. Sure, it was quiet, but it was not silence. With silence comes peace and there was no peace without his company. It was merely a quiet moment with a phone that wouldn’t chime and voices I couldn’t distinguish on a night that was as cold as it was lonely. It was quiet, but it wasn’t silent and I really could have used some silence right then.
