The Rylons

What are the sounds in your head? Is there a meaning to them? Ears ringing?

I have always been bothered by ringing in my ears. Sometimes the ringing is so loud that it blocks out some other sounds that I need to hear, like people talking or being on the phone.

The doctors have always told me that I will probably have it for the rest of my life unless I have major surgery.

I tell them that I don't want surgery, because it might end up making me deaf. I guess I can live with all the crickets in my head. That's what they sound like sometimes, a million crickets making noise at the same time.

"Peter, why not get the surgery? I have heard that those who have had the surgery do pretty good. No hearing loss at all. And they say that the ringing has stopped." My friend Patty told me one day.

"Sweetheart, I am afraid of surgery. I have also read that some people end up deaf...or worse. No thanks, I think I can live with it, it's sort of become a part of who I am I think." I told her.

A few months later, I had a long day to myself. Nothing to do, nothing to watch on television and there was no place that I needed to be at on this day. So I stayed inside and read a book.

After reading for about an hour, I fell asleep on the couch with my book still in my hand. I went into a deep sleep. It seemed that my crickets had become quiet for a while.

In my sleep, I began to hear what sounded like voices over a static riddled old radio. I could hear someone talking, but I could not make out what they were saying. In my sleep, I felt like I was about to wake up. But then after what seemed like hours, only a few seconds actually, I went back into deep sleep.

A while later, I was awakened by the sound of a car backfiring outside. It startled me awake. I was a little disappointed that it woke me, but I felt that I needed to get up anyway.

It was getting dark outside, so I turned on the porch light, and went into the kitchen to make myself some soup.

While opening a can of my favorite soup, I thought I heard that sound that was part of my dream. The static and the voices.

I looked around and knew that I did not have a radio on. And when I looked out the window, there was no one outside. I stood there at the window for a moment and then I heard it again, this time it sounded like I was wearing earphones and it was coming from the speakers.

I listened carefully. Then I heard my name.

"Peter, listen carefully. We have been attempting to contact you for many years now. We have finally succeeded with our audio sensors that made it possible to translate the signals that we planted in your mind many years ago. Listen carefully to what we relay to you. Do not be alarmed."

Peter stood there and listened. He slapped his head to make sure he was awake and that it was not just his tinnitus acting up. No crickets this time, but voices.

The voice returned.

"We are the Rylons, we have returned to Earth to recover our lost people. You are part of a group of Rylons who were stranded here on Earth many years ago. When your parents became stranded, they lived as humans, as you have. For many years we have been attempting to improve on our transmitters unfortunately, your human medical people did not know about the ringing in your heads. The sounds that you have been hearing for most of your life has been our attempt to contact you. At this time, you should only be hearing our voices. When we instruct you on how to reunite with us, you will not be hearing the static any longer. In a moment, we will send you the coordinates so you can rejoin your true species."

Peter thought for a moment that he was still dreaming.

"Do you understand Peter? You are a Rylon, not from Earth. We have come to take all of you home."

The voice stopped, and for the first time in Peters' life, he could not hear the crickets any longer.

He felt like rejoicing, the sounds that so aggravated him all his life was gone.

After a few minutes had passed, Peter heard the instructions from the voices and he wrote them down.

"Peter, did you receive the instructions?" A seperate voice said.

"Yes, I did, I wrote them down. I am ready to end this torment."

After Peter gathered a few of the items that he wanted to keep, he walked out his door and never looked back as he made his way to the designated location.

After a year long journey through a space warp, Peter was home where he belonged, on Rylon.

His tinnitus will never return.

Author's Note

For a lot of us who are troubled with tinnitus, it is a terrible companion. This writer has millions of 'crickets' in his head constantly. A doctor prescribed hearing aids for me to 'relieve' the sound.
The hearing aid only magnifies it. Never make fun of anyone with this sound in their heads. It's not fun.
Thank you