[ WP ] In a world where there is always noise somewhere in the background , one night you are startled awake by a deafening silence . Just as you turn to rouse your significant other , a terrible siren pierces through the silence .

I woke up in a cold sweat. There was no grogginess. My eyes flew open and I was suddenly wide awake. Pure darkness in the room. Strange, as my eyes should be adjusted to the darkness. Something was wrong, and I could n't tell what. I felt panicky. Thoughts fluttered back to instinct. Things I read about your senses detecting danger when you're not consciously aware. Like when your peripheral vision catches something you're not looking at, like a predatory animal stalking you. You're not consciously aware, but you are, subconsciously. 
 
 I slowly reached for my cellphone on the night stand and quickly turned the flash on it. I looked around the room, but I could see nothing out of the ordinary. A fear started to grow and gripped me by the bones. I almost felt held in place and unable to move. Why? Not knowing what was wrong made everything worse. There was definitely something wrong and I could n't tell what. 
 
 I got out of bed and made my way to the window. I still could not tell what was wrong! Nothing seemed out of the ordinary outside. 
 
 `` I... I do n't remember. Heh.'' 
 
 It was about three in the morning. I looked toward my wife, sound asleep. Maybe it was just me. 
 
 Maybe it was just me. 
 
 I decided to go back to bed. The moment I laid down, the panic gripped me by the heart. I could not go to sleep and my body said `` no''. Danger. 
 
 I finally decided to wake my my wife. I've never had a panic attack and at the time I wondered if that's what I was experiencing, but the moment I touched her shoulder, a great deep sound emanated from outside. It shook the walls and windows. It shook everything and I felt slight vertigo from it. My heart doubled in pace and everything slowed down for a moment. The adrenaline was coursing through me. I grabbed my wife by the shoulder and shook her, hard. 
 
 `` She was my wife.'' 
 
 That's when it hit me. It had been dead silent, and I could n't even hear my wife breathing. She had n't even budged when I shook her. Nothing. My mind fluttered and I shook her again and again. I checked her pulse, and I felt it. 
 
 Then that deep sound roared again outside, shaking everything once more. I could hear glasses breaking in the kitchen in the distance ( and screaming? ) and the top cover of the toilet's porcelain tank rattling violently. The mirror in the bedroom cracked and startled me, making me scream like a child. 
 
 `` I do n't want to remember. Please.'' 
 
 I tried to call the police and get help. This is n't right. None of it is... or was. My phone would n't respond to any touches I made on the screen. 
 
 Why's it got ta be so fucking silent all around? Why, why, why?! 
 
 I ran to the light switch and flipped it on. It was the only thing that brought me comfort at the moment. I looked toward my wife, but she was gone. 
 
 `` Fuck it! You do n't fucking understand! I've been craving it for years. All of these years. It's all I could think about, and I do n't want to remember because I'll just want it again. I just wanted to see inside. I know I should n't call it a paintbrush, but it was MY paintbrush. The years were like a marinade. God, please let me do it again. Hahaha.'' 
 
 That's when everything clicked. 
 
 `` Baby, I love you so much'' 
 
 I smiled. 
 
 `` Do you remember your name?'' 
 
 `` I... I do n't remember. Heh.'' 
 
 `` Do you remember who she is?'' Out of a manila envelope he pulled out a picture of a beautiful woman. I giggled. His faced twitched so subtly, but I caught it. 
 
 `` She was my wife.'' 
 
 `` Why did you murder her?'' 
 
 `` I do n't want to remember. Please.'' as I said this, I meant every word. God, shut him the fuck up. I began to salivate. 
 
 `` We already have enough evidence. You are not getting life. You will be executed. Just tell us the fucking story. I know you do n't give a shit. I can see it in your eyes.'' as he said this, I felt my getting hot. I became furious. 
 
 `` Fuck it! You do n't fucking understand! I've been craving it for years. All of these years. It's all I could think about, and I do n't want to remember because I'll just want it again. I just wanted to see inside. I know I should n't call it a paintbrush, but it was MY paintbrush. The years were like a marinade. God, please let me do it again. Hahaha.'' 
 
 We had been married for 30 years. At some point I grew an insatiable hunger for my wife. I transcended love. I knew I had. I wanted more. More than sex, more than `` I love you's'' and anniversaries and small dates. We could never have children, but it did n't matter. Fuck kids. I wanted to show her. I wanted to show her how much I loved her. 
 
 One day I stated an act and pretended our house got broken into. So to reassure her that would never happen again, I bought a shotgun. My paintbrush. 
 
 I can still taste the inside of her skull. I love you, baby. 
 
 I drank too much. I was excited. I went to the bar and hung out with my buddies. I planned it all, but the alcohol impaired me. I had sent a text to my wife. I wanted her awake. She was my masterpiece. I wanted her to see that my love knew no bounds. Not even death. When I got home she was in the kitchen cooking me up something to eat. Bless her. I went straight to the bedroom and grabbed the twelve gauge. I did n't want to wait. 
 
 I loaded it and pumped it as I walked down the hallway to the kitchen. She heard it, and immediately asked if everything was ok apprehensively. She knew I was drunk. I did n't care and giggled. 
 
 `` Baby, I love you so much'' 
 
 I went around the corner and shot blindly. A deep roar that rattled the windows. I missed her and the dishes on the rack by the sink exploded. She screamed and darted around another corner of the kitchen that led to the hallway. I said nothing and just followed. She ran into the restroom and I shot blindly again. 
 
 I hit her. Her body fell backwards onto the toilet rattling the top cover of it violently. Her mouth was gaping open as if she was about to plead and protest my love for her. Her head made a beautiful mess on the wall behind her. Pink, red and white fragments. I'm glad I decided to paint the restroom green. The whole scenery reminded me of watermelon. 
 
 My hunger was insatiable and I stopped by the bedroom and tossed the shotgun in it and it smashed again the mirror and for some odd reason, that startled me. I briskly walked into the restroom and sat on my wife's lap as she sat motionless on the toilet seat. I remember being surprised her body did n't slump over and fall to the ground. The only sound I heard was my heavy breathing and the blood running off the tank of the toilet and dripping into a pool beneath us. 
 
 I cried. I loved her that much. And as my tongue entered the inside of her warm and fragmented skull, I wept harder. I slurped as best I could, the fragments of brain and blood. God, I love you so much baby. I ate, and ate, and ate. 
 
 I waited all these years. My love only grew. Is it so wrong that my love for my wife transcends far beyond what we perceive love to be? I'm sure she understands now, and I will be with her soon. I just wish this dream of waking up in utter silence would end, but I smile after I wake up and remember.
