Five years of old wounds, words left unexpressed, tears and pride.
Five years with zero communication.
No I hope you are smiling today text messages, no family photos were e-mailed, no three hour phone calls just because, no humorous you'll always be older birthday cards or holiday greetings. There were no weekend visits or three glasses of wine long lunches.
Silence.
Regret.
Loss.
It was as if their connection, their friendship never even existed.
One
Two
Three rings
Part of her was relieved when she saw the name appear on her phone screen, although, it was after midnight. What a strange time to choose to extend an olive branch she thought.
The name she saw illuminated in the dark was one that had crossed her mind so many times as she wondered how the person who it belonged to was doing. She would always silently send love and light and then would go on about her day.
She was relieved to see the name now because at last, the ice had been broken and she was grateful that she hadn't had been the one to take the first step.
She was angry too. At herself. She should have been the bigger person, she should be the one reaching out.
Lastly, she was surprised that the name and number were still stored in her phone. But, then again of course they were.
Four
Five
Six rings.
Letting the call go to voice mail would be the easiest course of action and the most cowardly.
She turned on the lamp on the bedside table, took a deep breath and answered the call.
Before she could say a word, she heard:
"Hello, I'm Sean."
Who? Was he crying?
"You don't know me. I'm your sister's husband.
What the hell? She got married?! I suppose a lot can happen in five years.
I'm using her phone. I, um found your number in her contacts."
She still has my number in her phone too.
"Okay?"
There was a long pause and a very heavy sigh and somehow she knew that the next words out of his mouth would change her life forever.
"Well, you see, um, there has been an accident. She didn't make it."
"What?"
"Your sister and our daughter died tonight in a car accident. I thought you should know."
Silence.
Regret.
Loss.
Nothing would keep me from talking to my sister! This post is fiction and was written for The Red Dress Club's writing assignment, Red Writing Hood. This week's prompt was to write a piece surrounding the following details: In the middle of the night, you get an urgent call from a friend you haven’t talked to in years. Something terrible has happened. What is it and why is he/she calling you?
