50. Pew, Pew, Pewww

Pew by Catherine Lacey set me in a pensive state. 

I thought about someone who doesn't have a home and is not looking for one. Someone who is looking for a place to be in  but not to stay, someone who stirs the conventions just by their simple existence. 

I thought about the need of people to put a label on everything, to give them a name that then will determine who that creature is, what it does and where it is going to. 

The story reminded myself of my silent months.

I probably did not mention this before. There was a time in my life, feels like a different life now, when I was in South Korea and I found that in order to survive, to keep my soul inside I needed to be silent. 

I did not speak for a few months, if my memory serves me right. 

My memories from that time are now blurry but I do remember the peacefulness inside, brought by this silence. I became more aware of where I was and what I was doing, I dreaded it. 

Pew, besides the fact that it is giving us access to a closed society, where people created rules and accepted ways of living together , he or she - we don’t know - is keeping silent, with some exceptions.

He or she is not talking to those who want information out of him. He or he is talking to those who are sincere and seem to be similar to him or her in some way. 

Staying silent becomes a self affirmation mechanism. A way to “say” that he or she exists. 

Out here, in the wild, in the modern world, silence might mean that someone is in pain or angry or revengeful or wanting to harm you.

Out there, in the story silence is speaking the loudest. 

I love the simplicity of the language which is yet so profound. Like the time when Pew is observing someone say a prayer, which he or she doesn't know is a prayer  and calls it a block of memorized words. Ok, now we’re talking. I am very interested in stories that explore the relationship between humans and religion or beliefs. 

I loved the ending as well, not going to disclose it here. Just know that if you were waiting for an interesting ending, it does happen.