It was that damned sound.  It drove him to distraction, the incessant chirping happening day after day and night after night.  It made his skin crawl, made his ears ring as he listened to the sounds echoing in through his windows.

                Windows he had shut and sealed with duct tape and glue to try and seal out the sound.  But it didn’t stop.  The chirping did not stop the madness from creeping in on him and driving him insane. 

                They had done it to him on purpose.  Sealed him into the room and unleashed the sound to see how much he could take.  He could take it.  He would take it until his last breath.  But did it have to be so loud?

                He pounded against the window and shouted a demand for them to turn it down, but they didn’t.  They never did.       

                It was that damned sound, the damned crickets chirping, that drove him to distraction.