"It's awful quiet in here."

Then the stage lights come up, and she sees the endless rows of seats, all of them empty. Stage right, stage left, orchestra pit, catwalk... completely deserted. She's been alone the entire time. And the performance of her lifetime was played out to no one at all.

If there is no one around to hear the crash, a tree falling in the forest really doesn't make a sound.

She had just assumed that the stillness that followed each act was merely the anticipation of what was to come, the hushed vibrato of a thousand eyes eagerly awaiting with held breath as one scene danced behind another. She knew she need not expect a standing ovation, and wouldn't waste her energies dodging the stage-bound bouquets. The happy ending was unobserved; no notary to verify that the conclusion was one worth waiting for. She wouldn't have to wait for the review... blank pages would accompany the noisy silence, once more a validation of what she refused to believe. The final act faded into an infinite void.

Not only would the fallen tree land silently in it's bed of dirt, but the gap left behind in the skyline would be unnoticed.

She forces herself downstage and slides over the edge. Not even her feet ripple the suffocating silence as she drags weary feet up the aisle, still faintly searching for any signs of life. She sits briefly in one of the seats, and stares at the stage expectantly. Oh, well, that explains it, she muses.

There's nothing to watch.

She reaches the exit, and pushes against the rusty handle, leaning her weight against the door. One last glance over her shoulder confirms a vacant arena. The dust in the air is settling already, waiting for the next show. It will most undoubtedly be an award winning spectacle. She would've liked to have seen it.

So the tree falls. The lights burn out. The heavy doors latch shut behind her.

And no one noticed.

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