The Call That Didn't Happen, Suchismita Ghoshal (March 2026)

 

The Call That Didn't Happen

At 9:17 p.m.
I set my phone face down
and left the room,
as if absence could decide for me. The kettle cooled.
The light in the kitchen flickered once.
And then it started behaving.
Nothing dramatic occurred.
I returned later
to the same, familiar silence,
still intact,
still very unwilling to explain itself.
What we didn’t say
found its home somewhere else
and slowly settled there, 
practically and cruelly—
between tomorrow’s queued up plans
and the habit of breathing.
I could understand then
that not all endings announce themselves loudly.
Some simply stop asking.
The night continues.
The body adjusts.
A different life arrives
without raising its voice.