Day 34: What do you hear when you go outside?

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 34: What do you hear when you go outside?

What do I hear when I go outside? Well, that all depends on the time of day.

If I go outside at the crack of dawn, I hear a cacophony of birdsong. As you can see from the picture, there’s a large field behind the building where I live with lots of trees. Those trees are home to a variety of birds and first thing in the mornings they all have something to say. I sometimes wonder what they are twittering about. They could be discussing the dreams they had, debating what to have for breakfast, or simply making plans for the day.

A little further down in the picture you’ll see a pond. This pond is home to a number of ducks and geese. They too are quite the conversationalists. They can be heard when they’re coming in for landing as if the leader is giving instructions. Once on the ground, it often sounds like he’s giving feedback.

With them too I have no idea what they’re saying, but it sounds like every now and then these ducks and geese dissolve in peals of laughter.

Then there are the trains. Every 5 minutes during peak hours and every 10 minutes during the rest of the day, the SRT (Scarborough Rapid Transit) train passes by. 

Contrary to what you might think, the passing trains don’t bother me at all. In fact, I’m so used to them, I don’t hear them at all.

To GO-train, on the other hand, can't be missed. That train can be heard from quite a distance away and when it thunders past, anybody and everybody knows about it.

Micky loves that train. When he hears the train coming he rushes outside and sits on the ledge, or he jumps on a windowsill to watch the big green machine go by.

Other than that, there are all kinds of noises during the day. Cars coming and going, with quiet or not so quiet passengers.

In the distance, cars can be heard, along with the wail of ambulances or firetrucks. And every so often there is a loud bang. These bangs can be a car backfiring, an electric transformer blowing (as there is a power station nearby), or a gunshot. Who knows.

Late at night, when all should be quiet, a group of youngsters uses the parking lot behind the building as their personal playground. One car after another park in a dark corner and what happens next depends on that particular evening. Sometimes they play music, loud music, talk, and laugh.

Other nights they drink, and the more they drink, the louder they get. When they’re done, they smash the bottles leaving the glass and other debris behind. In the course of the evening, more cars come and go. It’s hard to see what goes on, but sometimes packages get exchanged.

Usually, after 2:00 a.m. all goes quiet.

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