Discover three historical short stories by Elizabeth St. John, Antoine Vanner, and Kathy Hollick-Bater that echo the themes of isolation, emotional disconnection echoed by The Sound Of Silence by Disturbed.
Some battles leave no visible scars. These stories explore courage after the fighting is over, showing how memory, grief, and survival echo across generations long after history has moved on.
Featured stories that reminded me of The Sound Of Silence by Disturbed.
The Gate – Elizabeth St. John
London, 1900 – When courage costs everything
“The pot had nothing left to give. Margaret scraped the last of the congealed oats anyway, the spoon going round and round the cold iron. The fire had been dead since Tuesday. She stopped looking at the hearth two days since, the ash piled grey and spent like old rags.”
A Sack of Potatoes – Antoine Vanner
Groenhorst, outskirts of Amersvoort, The Netherlands, November 11th, 1954
Courage meant survival for many – but others relied on greed.
“Saskia had the Renault to herself for the whole week.
“You keep it,” Her husband Dirk had said. “Joop will give me a lift. We’ll be working late each evening. I won’t need it. If we can, we’ll be back late Saturday afternoon.”
And then be gone again at dawn on Monday, as it had been for months.”
Grumpy Old Grandfather – Kathy Hollick-Bater
Anywhere, Present-day – It takes courage to fight the memory of fear.
“See that grumpy old man over there? That’s my grandfather. He gets scared whenever something goes bang!
I found it funny one day as he started shaking and grabbed his blanket, clutching it with tight fists when the cat had knocked an ornament off the shelf. I laughed and said, “It’s just Maddie, playing games.”
Discover such stories, exploring deep regret, lost love, and the crushing pain of memory matching the mood of The Sound Of Silence by Disturbed – and more – in Courage: Tales of History, Mystery and Hope:
These three stories sound like great stories. You provided great teasers.
The teasers were supplied by the authors, Tbomas. Credit must go to them. I only thought of a matching song. Thank you very much for stopping by.
Very good introductions to these stories, Patricia. I’m guessing shell-shocked from the last one? Only one way to find out … Thanks for sharing.
It was rather heartbreaking. Sometimes we can’t help the ones we love, no matter how much we wish we could.
Indeed. 🙁
I enjoyed each of these stories, all of them about different times and experiences, and all of them beautifully written. I also love Disturb’s version of The Sound of Silence.
I did too, Pat. So good when things click into place, such as stories and music 🙂 Thank you for visiting today.
A powerful theme, Patricia. We so often think of courage as something displayed in the heat of the moment, yet perhaps the quieter courage comes afterward—in living with what remains when the danger has passed but the memories have not. The Sound of Silence is an inspired choice to bind these stories together; its haunting quality seems perfectly suited to those echoes of the past that refuse to become entirely silent.
Lovely seeing you again, Michael! Thank you! I love that idea of courage continuing long after the danger has passed. Sometimes it is the quietest battles, fought with memory, that demand the greatest strength. 🙂