"Ugh..." I said as I sat up in the dark of the room. There wasn't any sound except the quiet buzz in my ear of a dreadful silence.

Then I remembered why I had went to sleep early. So I could Sign early in the morning, before David came back. Then I heard it. The slow hum of the alarm that woke everyone up every morning in the districts. It was always just as loud no matter where you were in the districts.

This sound that filled my ears and made them ring signalled that I had to head out and Sign. All of the sudden a panic gripped my chest and seamed to squeeze until I couldn't talk.

What if I die?

That thought seemed to ring from ear to ear inside me. And the pain and fear only gripped me tighter. But I fought it and got up of the floor from the blanket that I called a bed and rushed to get dressed in the same rags that I did everyday.

I ran out the door against my better judgement and ran down the hollow streets the started to teem with life as people started to exit their homes. Past the  markets and homes that have never changed since the day I moved into my home in the district with David. Finally I entered the center square, a place in the middle of the districts that was for announcements and gatherings. But also for the Signing every 10 years.