Silence

Last night, I was standing outside on my lawn at 3am - puppy on the end of a leash, the lawn crunchy with frost under our feet.  Standing there quietly, sleep quickly leaving me (for at least another hour, but that's another story involving children and not dogs), as I waited patiently for my dog to do his business. I noticed something.

Silence.

I don't mean it was quiet out, I mean it was silent. Not. A. Single. Sound. Silence.  Which is weird because we live so close to the highway; there's normally traffic noise, even at that late hour.

Silence is something I don't often here. The hum of the refrigerator, the drone, of the TV,  little children chattering in the other room...  my life is full of sound. But last night it all stopped for just a moment - it was as eerie as it was beautiful.

Then, in the distance, an owl hooted softly.
The dog finished his business and started sniffing through the leaves.
The furnace kicked on.

And just like that, the silence was gone.

I wonder if anyone else heard it?