You there???
I have a plan... You and me. A picnic. In a park. You bring the chaos; I’ll bring the sandwiches.
The phone buzzes again beside my face, that familiar thrum like a tired heartbeat.
I don’t have the strength to answer.
Blake, again relentless.
A storm in my notifications.
Message after message.
And still, not one reply to mine.
Each timePandoragets a new message from him, I send one asPenn.
Desperate. Sad. Human.
“I miss you. Can we talk?”
“I need you. The gas won’t ignite. The shower’s cold. The oven isn’t playing the game. Maybe the gas is out?”
“Hello, damsel in distress here…your wife. AKA me!!!”
“Blake? Oi. You there? Hellllloooooo. God’s sake, Blake! How do I change the gas bottle? The mail guy at work Dane is his name he said it could be that when I asked him”. Still nothing, even after that.
God, I thought he’d at least bite at that. But no. Zilch. From the man I shared my whole fucking life with.
This app is ridiculous. Off-the-charts absurd. I don’t know how people actually build lives through this thing all dopamine, no depth.
I make notes on my pad, trying to stitch together fragments of my story, dodging pick-up lines that make my uterus curl in on itself.
Like this gem from cam69andioweyou1:
“It’s not even Halloween yet, and I’m dressed up as the love of your life.”
Or this poetic tragedy:
“Do you believe in love at first sight? Because you look like love, and I have fallen.”
And then the straight-up criminal:
“I feel like you and I would look good in bed naked together.”
One percent of me laughs at the sheer audacity. The other ninety-nine weeps for humanity.
It’s tragic all these people swiping through curated pixels, chasing chemical highs, calling itlove.They’ve forgotten the butterflies. Forgotten the quiet hand-holding at midnight. Forgotten the art of finding something real in the dark just to carry it into the light.
What I had with Blake was real. Ninety-nine percent perfect. Maybe he’s just lost in the fog. Maybe he needs a lighthouse. And maybe that’s still me.
So, I do what I do best I persist.
After hitting send on a message to Blake, I switch back to Dane. The only man who seems to actuallyseeme.
I text Dane
‘Can you come over? 2996 Ocean Drive. I think the gas is empty, but I have no idea how to change it.’
