Per 
Inside Debris
I have been mute since I was born.
The lack of a voice box meant making any noise was extremely difficult. I was always able to make a sort of quiet grunt noise by forcing a large amount of air through my mouth. This was normally be enough to get peoples attention. Other communication I did through use of pen and paper I always kept on me.
Now, That was not enough.
A earthquake had just knocked over the building I was staying in. It was the middle of the night and in darkness, the sound of breaking and crashing objects felt like something out of an action film. The final moments of the building collapsing everything faded to black.
I woke up to the sound of heavy rain.
As I slowly came to my senses I realized I was stuck under debris. It was hard to breathe. My chest was stuck under the fallen pieces of the building and my arms and legs were trapped. I heard yelling coming from people and I tried to yell, tried to scream, tried to do anything to get their attention only to be met with silence exiting my mouth. The trick I normally use to make any noise was not working. I couldn't get enough air into my lungs to make a large enough noise to be heard over the rain. I felt like I was drowning.
Then I realized I was drowning.
It started with me realizing that my body was wet. Not like the wet you expect from rain, the type of wet when you fall over in a puddle. I realized the water was rising. Panic overtook my body, adrenaline surging through my veins I used what strength I had to attempt to trash around. Like a shark stuck in a cage I tossed back and forth making some noise by dislodging debris. Finally I managed to drop a piece onto the ground making a loud splash in the water.
"What was that?"
"Its likely just some debris falling over."
I wanted to scream, I tried to scream, I tried to yell 'No, i'm here, i'm a person, i'm alive!' The words sounded loud in my mind, but only silence met the air. The rising water met my ear and this is when I realized I was going to die.
The rising water covered my face.
All my life I've felt like nothing more than the noises I make. People express emotions through words, the tone in their voices, the life in their words. People define who they are by talking. Someone applying for a Job can sound confident and convincing in their words. Often you can tell what someone is like by how they talk. Being mute my whole life has made me realize something. We have two ears so we can listen twice as much as we talk.
If someone cant talk,
Whats the point of listening?
