My Best Friend

I looked at my phone with flickering eyes

Notification popped up with ‘one missed call’

I scrolled my ‘call history’

Ran straight to the calendar

Hanging from a fixture on the wall

I ran short of fingers while counting days and weeks,

So I started counting months- 1, 2, 3..4,

The number where I stopped

Reminded me, we haven’t talked for so long.

I opened the number pad,

Dialed the digits one by one.

You remember?

The way you had recited your phone number 20 times

Before I left the town

Imprinting those 10 digits in my mind.

And I asked you, “Why so crazy?”

“If you ever get stuck in an emergency, who would you try?”

Is what you replied.

Uh! Amidst the memories, I successfully entered the last digit,

And hit the button with a well prepared sorry

To urge as soon as you pick up the call.

With each ring, my heart skipped a beat

The childish voice finally broke the repeat

‘Hey’ from the other side

And hello from mine

The time, distance, and all other dimensions of space between us just vanished

Like you were sitting right beside me under the starry sky,

Telling all the stories left to be told and living them again.

Like you’ve never left.

And this is why I call you “My best friend”