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Open After You Were Done

by Madam Wren
Chapter 2
You called too late.
The line was still open.
Those are not the same thing.
The difference matters now.

The line was still open.
I saw your name before you spoke.
The difference matters now.
Names arrive ahead of voices.

I saw your name before you spoke.
It was written in a margin already full.
Names arrive ahead of voices.
Crowding is how fate signals urgency.

It was written in a margin already full.
You asked whether you could change it.
Crowding is how fate signals urgency.
That question arrives after the change.

You asked whether you could change it.
I watched the moment pass unremarked.
That question arrives after the change.
Timing is not something you possess.

I watched the moment pass unremarked.
Someone else made a smaller choice.
Timing is not something you possess.
Small choices carry heavier weight.

Someone else made a smaller choice.
You never noticed the exchange.
Small choices carry heavier weight.
They travel quietly between people.

You never noticed the exchange.
The room felt ordinary again.
They travel quietly between people.
Ordinary is how endings hide.

The room felt ordinary again.
You assumed the danger had moved on.
Ordinary is how endings hide.
Danger prefers not to be observed.

You assumed the danger had moved on.
That was your final error.
Danger prefers not to be observed.
It waits for certainty.

That was your final error.
I did not interrupt you.
It waits for certainty.
Interruption changes outcomes.

I did not interrupt you.
You called too late.
Interruption changes outcomes.
The line was still open.