Solstice

A crisp click and the ringing of voicemail

Light pounding of buttons and the tone changes

The dialing of the number resonates in the empty room

A voice comes from the small house phone

 

“I’ve never admitted this before but,

for a long time I’ve been just a very lonely guy.

It’s my fault, yeah, but anyways

That’s all going to be behind me.

Very soon, I won’t be here. I’ll be moving away,

Starting something new

But my main point is,

            I just wish… I just wish that I could have.”

 

            An inscrutable pause as the voice chokes.

 

            “I just wish that I could have been, closer to you.”

 

            The word ‘closer’ lingered a while,

            hanging from the edge of a guitar string.

            A loud beep broke the white noise,

            shattering its crystalline pitch.