Noise

The noise was piercing, sending shivers right up her spine where it settled at the base of her neck. Every high pitched syllable sent throbbing tremors into her brain, causing any and all other thoughts to wither and die. The screeches were interspersed with bangs and thuds so loud to make her wince each time. The chaos around her crawled deeper into her person with each inane sound, until she wished for silence above all else in the world. Patience had long left her, and every cell in her body was screaming for quiet even just a second would be enough. After a lifetime of resisting any input, she gave in and somehow managed to speak with a calm and controlled voice,
"Alright." She spoke clearly and a bit loudly to be heard over the din. Two heads swiveled in her direction for a second before returning to their play.
"Guys? It's time it calm down a bit, much too loud," she said making sure she had their attention, "Can we mellow out now? How about a quieter game?," she suggested. The two boys looked at her and finally the eldest, P, suggested his favorite: coloring.
The younger boy, F, took more convincing to give up his favorite activity: chaos in any form. A few minutes of cajoling and 15 minutes of toy clean up resulted in the three at the dining table, each with a coloring book and some markers.