It’s always hardest to do things quietly when you know you have to do them quietly. Like right now. I am sitting in a uni library and every sound someone makes seems to disturb the strange species of humans that surround me. They are quiet, antisocial and seem to feed on the awkwardness of others.

It has been an awkward and strange half an hour for me here in the library. I arrive and have to climb about 5 sets of stairs to find a place where I can plug in my laptop, because I forgot to charge it. I find a spot, and face my first dilemma: Do I open my bag and pull out my laptop slowly and quietly, or fast and louder? It’s just like that age old bandaid dilemma: to rip or not to rip. I am the sort of person to just rip it off. A moment of pain and then it is gone. So I use this to inform my decision now. I pull out my stuff quickly, and somewhat loudly. This is met with at least 5 sets of eyes now staring at me with the passion of oh, say 1000 flaming suns.

Minutes later, people recover and are back to their own world of study and such. My typing is now the loudest sound in the room. How do people turn their pages so silently? Now I face my next dilemma. Before this 5 stairwell trek to the abyss of student learning, I purchased for myself a bag of lollies, from the lolly shop. They are in a paper bag, which is not hard to open quietly. But should I do it? Should I open the bag and claim the gummies which are rightfully mine? I decide yes, of course and am met with more stares, as I attempt to open the bag quietly. I have never eaten a bag of lollies so slowly in my life.

I sneeze. Not for any particular reason, except for the fact that I am sicker than Clark Kent in that episode where he comes back from the Phantom Zone (pretty much a big inter-dimensional freezer). My sneeze is louder than when he discovers he has a super sneeze.

About 5 minutes ago someone’s phone went off. Yes, Yoda informed everyone in the room that ‘A message he has’.

Every time I sniffle, it’s like a knife, searing through the silence.

I don’t think I can take it.

I don’t want to die in the barren land of silence.

If this is my last blog – I love you all.

Be random

Nikki.