Chapter Four - Too Much Noise

CHAPTER FOUR

Too Much Noise

SOMETIMES THE WORLD got too loud for Milo.

It wasn’t just shouting or sirens.
It was pencils scratching.
Clocks ticking.
Lights humming.
Feet tapping.

Each sound layered on top of the next until Milo’s head felt full, like a balloon ready to pop.

People said, “It’s not that loud,” but to Milo, it was.
And that was enough.

He covered his ears.
He hid under his hood.
Sometimes he cried, even when he didn’t want to.

His mom noticed.

She gave him quiet headphones and a soft space to breathe.
She spoke gently.
She listened.

And slowly, the noise faded.

It wasn’t that the world stopped being loud.
It was that Milo was allowed to pause.

That’s what helped most of all.