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Warning: None really. Disclaimer: The characters within this story are all the creations of my own over-active imagination. Any resemblance they bare therein to any real people is purely coincidental. by Joana Rodriguez a.k.a Lady Dragon I'm not sure what constitutes noise anymore. I used to think that the infernal racket made by the neighbor's children next door was noise. The sound of an alarm clock going off before you had fully awakened; dogs barking in the dead of the night; a baby's cries in a crowded elevator; the high pitched voices of a group of chatting teeny-boppers: they all equated the definition of noise to me, loud, irritating sounds that served no purpose but to irritate you. Its different now though. I'm no longer a young adult in my early twenties. Now a days when my alarm clock sounds off in the morning its no longer noise but rather a cue for nine more minutes of snuggling before I have to get up and start a new day be making sure the kids are up and getting ready for school. As I move about the kitchen hurrying to get everybody fed, lunches made, and myself ready for another day at work our youngest cries for attention ring loud and clear over the den of noise in the kitchen. Its not an irritant, simply a reminder that I can not neglect him for one of his older siblings lest he repeat this cycle with his own offspring. My oldest fusses about the ruckus her baby brother making. I smile at her and ask that she have a little more patience with him this morning, he's just a little cranky. With a dramatic sigh she tosses her hair over her shoulder and stomps over to the table, arms crossed defensively across her midsection and a ridiculous pout on her lips. Its hard to believe that one day soon my children will be grown and leave this house for one of their own; I must cherish the time I have with them. Through out the day I am surrounded by the loud sounds that once equaled noise in my youth. Co-workers bickering with one another, Office gossips yammering away; sounds of heavy traffic and congestion on my drive home; and the sounds of the neighbor's rowdy children in the front yard as I arrive home tired from a long day's work, all of these sounds I bear remarkably well. The only quiet time I have anymore is when I'm settled at home on the couch with a nice thick book to read after work with the baby tucked away in his crib upstairs. This quiet time, as rare as it is, is almost always interrupted by the sounds of teenagers fresh from school and chatting amicably about who is dating who, and the outfits that they'll don tomorrow. I cant bring myself to snap out the catty responses I would have long ago. Instead I find myself in my own mother's role, inquiring about their day as I prepare snacks to hold them till super time. I laugh out load as they regal me with their hilarious escapades (carefully substituting "I" and "me" for "my friend" and "a friend") and I nod in sympathy when they move on to tales of their teacher's dastardly deeds. Later I'll hear these stories repeated at the dinner table, the stores altered yet again. But I'm a parent; I don’t mind my children's eccentricities. I was a kid once too after all. Now I lay here in my bed, my spouse spooned against my back and I think over the day's events. I'm not the sullen and angry teen I once was. Nor am I the mischief making jokester I remember myself as either. Instead I am the parent, the wise one who can make every situation better. The one whose actions and judgments will be seen, weighed, and considered many times over before they are repeated in my children's actions. The thought is alarming, yet it brings a contented smile to my face and a flutter to my heart. Outside a dog begins to bark his nightly serenade to the moon and I know that I have come full circle. Author’s notes: Where the hell did that come from you ask? The hell if I know I answer. Seriously I was sitting in the quiet section of the library trying to study and I couldn't help but wonder what constitutes noise to some people, and then I some how got on the mental track of changing perspectives over time and this was born. And because I know someone is wonder, no I am not re-considering having children someday. Thats just not something I can picture myself doing. I would never make a good mother, I dont have the patience and I'm far too selfish. Please Leave a Review
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