Send me “Goodbye” for the last voice message my muse leaves for yours before they die.
“I’m really bummed you didn’t pick up the phone.”
[Her words, usually so spitfire fast, dwindle, dawdle, take their own precious time spilling from her lips, and her breathing is audible and laborious]
“I had this question I’ve been saving, you know. Something really important. I can’t believe you didn’t pick up.”
[She laughs, but it turns into a cough - and not just a whoops I have a cold kind of cough, but the one that sounds like a lung might be coming loose. Like the cough of a life-time smoker and whiskey drinker at age 102 might sound]
“I gotta know -- do you have a robot dick, or nah? Heh. That’s probably pretty rude. Probably why I didn’t ask til now.”
[Somewhere in the background, a door clangs open, or some metal hinges creak. Maybe it’s the sound of a whole building ready to go down, taking its last breath]
“You should take my TV. I feel like you guys have a real bond and I wouldn’t want to break up true love.”
[More laughter, but no more coughing. No more anything. The line simply goes dead]