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| Another ten minutes - Talking |
| Posted on 22/11/04 at 04:19 by NGONGE |
Its Sunday afternoon. Ive locked myself in a room and decided to keep silent for as long as I can. Im not going to utter a word for the next four hours. Ive had enough of talking. Ive been doing it all my life. It started with my tiny baby noises that Im sure used to get on my mothers nerves. It then went on to become an irritating serious of toddler's tantrums. My poor mother still coped. I then became a noisy child that never stopped talking. I spoke about floors, walls, windows, football, men, women, ants and everything related to them. I never stopped. I became a teenager and found me a new subject of discussion. I spoke about girls. Small girls, big girls, fat girls, beautiful girls, ugly girls, beautiful girls, filthy girls, beautiful girls, nice girls, beautiful girls, bad girls and beautiful girls. Im now a grown up. I still talk about the girls and the ants but I also talk about politics, work, death, children, weather, god and the universe. I talk to people, I talk to children, I talk to the TV and best of all, I talk to myself. I talk too much!
Today, Im not going to talk. I have many things to say but Im not going to say them. Today, Im going to spare the world from hearing the sound of my voice. Today, Ill set here silently, like a Chinese monk. Words shall not pass my lips. Thoughts shall not venture out of my head. Ideas shall not be discussed. Today, Im taking a vow of silence. They (though I know not who they are) can torture me. They (though I know no not what they look like) can tease me. They (though I see not their faces) can goad me into talking. They (though I see not where they are) can stare at me. Im still not going to talk. Im not going to ask them why theyre looking at me. I refuse to be intimidated into talking. Ive zipped my mouth and stuck a lock on it. They can go and look for the key. Today, Im not going to talk. Im done talking. Ive said my last words today. They were not memorable words but they were the best I could come up with under the circumstances. My final and parting words were: Today, Im not going to talk!
Its been five minutes already. I have not uttered a word. This is not an easy task! Im sitting in this room alone. Im silent. Ive heroically decided not to talk. Im sure that the world will appreciate my gallant effort. Im sure theyll all think what a great man I am. Im sure young talkative children will look up to me and regard me as a role model. How would they though? The world carries on. People are getting on with their miserable lives. Those that talk, talk and those that dont, dont. Im sat here, not talking, but nobody seems to know of this great achievement. How could I tell them when Ive vowed not to talk?
Ah! If only the man who lost his job and is sitting crying in some pavement knew about me, hell feel better about himself. If only the women who got burgled had heard of me, shell stop weeping and get on with her life. If only the South American rebels and government fighters had known my suffering, theyll stop the sounds of bullets and try to emulate my silence. People would flock to my front yard. Theyll all want to see the man who refused to talk. Alas, they dont know, they dont know!
Is my silence in vain? Why should I not talk if nobody will know of my silence?
I have decided to talk. I need to talk and people need to hear me. Talking has been my life. Im an expert talker, a professional. If I and all my fellow talkers had stopped talking, the world will be a silent and lonely place. I need to rejoin the hubbub. Need to take my rightful place as amongst the talkers of the world. Im going to talk.
I seem to have malfunctioned. The silence has changed me. I was ready to re-enter the fray. I was ready to return with a bang. I couldnt think of an appropriate word in which to resume talking! I need to return with a bang. A whimper will not do. What word should I choose?
I cant start with an I ; Ill sound self-centred and egotistical. I cant start with a YOU , after my long silence, itll sound aggressive and angry. I can sigh but thats not a word! I have to find a suitable word. This is not as easy as I thought! I wish I didnt stop talking in the first place. I need a word that sounds enigmatic and mysterious. I need something clever, witty and wise. It has to be manly too! I need a word that reflects all my great traits. I need something that will garner a favourable reaction from my listeners. Something that will make the men swell with pride for knowing me, and the women swoon for hearing my voice again!
Ive silently deliberated, contemplated, reflected and mulled over many words. I have reached a decision. As a child, my first words were probably Mama or Papa . As an adult theyll have to be something more complex. Therefore, and after much deliberation and self-doubt, Ive decided to resume talking with the words ANT COLONY.
Those two words cover all that I would want to say. There is a Queen (so we have royalty). There are workers (so we have dedication). There is order (so we have organisation). There are males and females (so we have a society). There is food, water, seasons and trees. Ant colony is one of the most important words of any language. It evokes great images of all that a talkative person like me would want to convey. I can vary the pitch of my voice as I say it. Soft, will show the caring nature of all the ants. Hard, will show the heroism and never-say-die attitude of the colony.
I have spoken. I mean to carry on speaking. My first words were a great choice. Not only did they cover all that I wanted to say, they also were in order, first words starting with A.
I plan to carry on talking. Im going to use many other great words. Im going to use many other none-great words. Im going to use all the words at my disposal. As of today, I reject, decline and refuse to utter the daft sentence that is: Today, Im not going to talk!
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