One New Message

By Anna Hill

My eyes are transfixed by the rhythmic pulse of the red blinking light. On. Off. On. Off. On. Off.

It calls out to me, signaling me to press the button. Daring me. Taunting me. But I can’t. Not yet.

The weight on my chest stills my breath and my hand. I’m helpless as it crushes me in unseen ways. I wish it would break my bones, flatten my flesh.

When I close my eyes to the ceaseless flashing, I see her. She smiles at me, her copper eyes twinkling with laughter. Freckles dot her rounded cheeks and crest the bridge of her slender nose. Tendrils of her wild blonde hair dangle from the bun that struggles to hold it all back.

This is where I must see her now. The realization seeps inside, suffocating my soul. She exists only in memories. Precious moments of our shared past that I will treasure even though they are almost too painful to recall.

But there is one more place where I can have her back, if only for a moment.

I open my eyes. The light continues to blink red. On. Off. On. Off. On. Off.

She’s there, waiting for me. A message filled with trivial words: a grocery list, a reminder to take out the trash, a warning that she will be late. Inconsequential words which, in the past, I ignored and deleted.

But these will be the last. Once the message is played there will be no new messages. No more blinking light.

My head tells me to never press the button, to hold onto this message and hide from the pain I know it will unleash. But my heart misses her. Misses the sternness in her tone when she’s angry, the softness of her stifled giggles, the intensity in her words when she speaks about her passions.

I miss her voice.

With every ounce of my being, I want her back. Even if only for a minute. Even if it’s the last time.

Inhaling deeply, I steady the phone in my trembling hand and hover my finger over the button.

“I love you,” I whisper to the emptiness surrounding me as I press down upon the phone.

A heavy stillness, and then her gentle voice embraces me for the last time.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Anna Hill has settled in British Columbia, Canada after a decade of living around the world. When not working as a production manger in the Vancouver Film Industry, she can either be found hunched over her laptop writing or hanging from a vertical rock wall somewhere in the wilderness. For additional titles, please see her Amazon Author page.

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