"So silence taunted him, and served an enduring lesson".

From 10 pm until 4:30 am, the silence here is total: no voices, cars or trucks, not the happy clatter of birds, or the squawk of noisy parakeets.

It's a nice break where I can think, read, write.

And I know that tomorrow everything will come back, people, sounds, noises.

So I'm not scared: it's not a punishment and it's not enduring.