Running on Empathy

I never know when she’ll call, so when her number shows up on my caller ID it’s like a shot through the gut every time. It’s never the right time for these conversations, during which I can feel my very soul being drained through the earpiece and into the chasm that is her life. I wouldn’t change places with her for anything in the world, but I can’t ever seem to hit “ignore” and make the decision to not listen for once.

We are practically strangers, she and I, but bonded by our mutual and bloody loss. This is why I listen, this emptiness in her is the same in me, and while I’m working on my own answers I think maybe she’ll have some kernel of truth to guide me. I answer her call because I have so many unanswered questions yet.