Chapter 2

My finger, poised to end the call, froze in that instant.

The evening street pulsed with a relentless tide of traffic.

My throat felt dry and tight. I stood rigidly on the sidewalk.

After a long silence, I spoke softly: "It doesn't matter anymore."

He seemed to let out a short, bitter laugh on the other end. "Doesn't matter?"

"Right, for someone like you, what could ever matter besides yourself?"

A brutal, sudden ache tore through me, and for a moment, I lost my bearings.

It wasn't until a piercing car horn blared beside me that I snapped back to reality, realizing I was standing in the middle of a crosswalk.

The green light for pedestrians had long since turned red.

A car screeched to a halt right next to me.

The driver rolled down their window, yelling something, their face contorted in anger.

I didn't hear a word.

Perhaps it was the deepening twilight, or some other reason.

My eyes burned, and my vision blurred.

When the world around me stabilized, I walked to the other side of the street.

The call had already ended.

That familiar, long-unheard voice was gone from my phone.

It felt like nothing more than a fleeting illusion.