The night is dark. There is no moon. A distant night bird sings its song. Gentle breaths of wind quiver leaves against a window. Fighting cats hiss and spit, assaulting the quietness and then… abruptly ceases. Barking from some neighbour’s dog echoes away the intruding felines.

Silence returns momentarily before the faint sound of a baby’s cry lingers for just a little while. The dim of the night remains unstirred.

I close my eyes in expectation for sleep to come. Only silence.

A suppressed whisper infiltrates the peace of the surrounding blackness. My eyes spring open. Alertness returns. ‘What was that’? Again there is silence. Tied eyes begin to close but it transpires again. ‘That murmur, where’s it coming from?’

This time I lay awake picturing the room around me. Faint outlines of a chair appear as my eyes adjust to the gloom. The whisper returns.

My voice…