Sounds of a School Morning
Story by Debbie Budnick
Art by Wesley Vara

As I was walking to school one day, I heard many different, strange, unusual, and unpleasant sounds.   They were all different from one another and had a meaning   all of their own.   No two sounds seemed to be the same in tone, variation, or length.   Most of them were beautiful and soothing to the ear, like the morning   songs of the various kinds of birds.   Yet there were sounds I could have done without, such as a someone driving to school and screeching   his tires as he turned the corner.

I heard different flocks of birds awakening to begin doing their daily chores.   There were some birds talking to each other constantly, as though they were friends   reuniting   after several years of separation.   A woodpecker   was at a nearby tree I was walking by doing its pecking at the bark to call a mate, to sharpen its beak, or to just find a morning meal.   Two black birds   were fighting each other on the grass of a nearby neighbors house.   A family, or gang, of birds were making a commotion   while chasing a cat away from this tree holding several of their nests.

An unpleasant   sound I heard was two cats snarling   and his sing over their territory.   Their snarls and hisses weren't too great to listen to, especially since my head was throbbing with a headache.  
Cars, trucks, and school buses drove by as I neared the high school and junior high school buildings.   Nearly   all of the cars were humming away happily.   There were some automobiles that   should be banned from running in a people infested town.   Some kept on back firing as if their owners filled the tanks up with beans instead of gasoline.   Yet there were other automobiles   which   seemed to be louder than heavy   metal music.   There were some quiet cars and trucks, but those were parked in driveways   still or parked on the sides of the street.   As a few cars were being parked they were making angry noises, maybe even gestures, because the engines wouldn't turn off or shut down properly.

I hear people talking to each other as I near the school grounds.   The voices travel to my ears as they swear, talk about the previous   night, discuss their latest childhood   crush or sweetheart, or all three areas of interest at the same time.   Some voices became louder as the person laughed   at a joke that had just been told.   No two voices are the same in tone, pitch, or the strength   at which the person holds of himself/herself.  

When I enter the school building I hear lockers open, books and folders falling to the floor, then the locker door banging   closed.   Some books fell to the floor with a thud, spreading loose papers in the air then softly those papers flutter to the hallway floor.   A voice swears as its owner gets upset with their fallen books and flying papers.   The halls of the school are crowded   with the noise of talking and laughter.   A bell rings.   The halls echo with its silence once again.

Ah!   The silence of the children   being in school is such a relief and yet all is too quiet.

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