I don’t usually oversleep. But last Thursday was different.
The night before, I stayed up almost until 3 AM reviewing slides for my upcoming cybersecurity quiz. My annoying eyelids wouldn’t just stay up for some reason as I scrolled through my notes under the blanket. I thought I could read just one more page before sleeping.
When I woke up the next morning, it wasn’t gentle. At first, I was breathing in my sleep, stuck in some dream I’m not going to remember anyways. An alarm started blaring next to me, shaking me awake. Did you know? I’m sensitive to loud noises while I sleep. You know what they say, “My heart rate jumped so fast I thought it would burst through my chest.” I tried to strike the alarm with all my might, but I moved too quickly. I ended up rolling off my bed, hitting the floor with a thud. Half my body landed on my guitar case. It kind of hurts.
My brain was still foggy, but that’s okay. Adrenaline took over. I scrambled to my feet, stumbled toward the closet, and pulled the sliding door open. I started rummaging through shirts and hoodies, yanking hangers left and right. Everything felt rough and cold under my fingers. I grabbed the first hoodie that didn’t look completely wrinkled and threw it on.
Then I spotted my backpack on the floor. I rushed over, unzipped it, and checked the contents. I shoved it back inside before zipping the bag up. I hurriedly slipped on my shoes by the door, tying the laces as fast as my shaky hands would allow.
Finally, I swung open the door. The cold morning air hit my face, shocking me fully awake. I started running. My footsteps echoed down the quiet hallway, fading out as I rushed toward the exit, hoping I wouldn’t be late for class again.
For this audio assignment, Sound Effects Story, the challenge was to tell a story using only sound effects with no words. I started with light sleeping breathing, followed by the loud alarm to signal panic. Then I added the rustle of blankets, a thud to show falling out of bed, slamming the alarm, footsteps running to the closet, the sliding closet door, frantic cloth rustling, closing the closet, putting on the clothes, heading to the backpack, the zipper, and shoes slipping on. Finally, the door opening and running footsteps fading out ended the audio with urgency and movement. Even something as simple as suddenly waking up can feel like a journey when you listen to the little moments layered like this together.
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