[ WP ] You and your friend decide to put on tinfoil hats for fun . As soon as you put yours on , you are unable to hear your thoughts .

The silence was deafening. In simple terms, that meant it was so quiet that your thoughts were like pained screams inside your head. Except with me it was the inverse. I was nine when it first happened. I was just sitting on a step with my best friend Thomas, passing the time on that unbearably hot, sticky and ozone clogged day. We were discussing star wars characters, like most friends do, when he had a `` brilliant'' idea. 
 
 `` Let's make hats to protect us from the sun,'' he had said. 
 
 Tom was deep into astronomy. He wanted to be an astronaut. He knew all of those random facts they sell in children's books. He knew the sun's rays were harsh. He knew sunscreen was the best answer, but like most scientists, Tommie favored ingenuity. 
 
 I replied: `` Sure.'' 
 
 We ran inside to look for materials. He found tinfoil first. He always found things first. We assembled the hats with folding taping and minimal elbow grease. We stepped outside and placed them on our heads. 
 
 It hit me like a dump truck full of bricks. 
 
 My mother was reading me some book about a deaf and blind girl that I was n't paying attention to. I now knew what that felt like. I could see, hear, and use all of the three remaining senses, but it was like input with no output. I was past scared. I looked around to find Thomas but he was nowhere to be found. I thought he was dead, or I had killed him. In a way, I did.I threw off the hat, screaming and crying, racing my way inside. 
 
 Twenty years later, and I've graduated college with a degree in law. I work in a law firm, like one with the cheap green screen commercial. Not a single piece of tinfoil has touched my head since. I have n't talked to Thomas for a few years. Then again, twenty nine is a little old for imaginary friends.
