Letter no. 1
Four hours without a reply
You sent a message at 2:12 pm. It’s 6 pm. In between, you checked your phone twenty times, re-read what you wrote, found a misplaced comma and decided that was the problem.
That’s not the problem. The problem is that four hours of silence contain exactly four hours of information about them: none. Everything else, the scene, the explanation, the ending, you’re writing yourself.
Tonight, try separating what happened from what you’re afraid it means.
If the reply came right now, and it was ordinary, what would you do with the four hours you just spent?
Hazzel Note
Silence isn’t a message. Wait for a message before you read something into it.
Watch
Before Sunrise
Two people, one night, and everything you can say when you know you’ll have to leave.
Read
A Lover’s Discourse, Roland Barthes
The entry on “Waiting” says everything there is to say about the four hours.
Listen
An old voice note from someone who loves you
Really. Go play one.