Missed_call Info

The recording ended. Elias looked out the window at the rising sun, feeling the cold knot in his chest finally begin to thaw. The missed call wasn't an unfinished bridge; it was the final plank being laid down. He turned off the phone, put it back in the drawer, and for the first time in three years, he didn't feel the need to check the screen.

"I’m not calling to talk, Eli," Arthur’s voice finally came through, sounding tired but strangely peaceful. "I’m just sitting by the fire, and this song came back to me. I figured you were asleep, and that’s fine. I just wanted you to hear the music one last time so you'd know I’m not carrying the weight anymore. You shouldn't either. Goodnight, old friend." missed_call

Elias spent the next three years wondering what those four rings were meant to say. Arthur had been his best friend, then his business partner, and finally, his greatest rival. They hadn't spoken in a decade following a bitter legal battle that stripped Arthur of his pride and Elias of his conscience. The morning after that missed call, Elias learned that Arthur had passed away in his sleep from a long-hidden illness. The recording ended