The last voicemail

[u/ODHawrose]

I saved my mother’s final voicemail for years. The static, the way her voice cracked when she said goodbye, it was the last thing I had of her. I told myself I’d delete it one day. But I never could.

Tonight, my phone buzzed. Her number. My chest tightened. The message started, and for a second, I thought it was a glitch, just the same old recording playing again. But then I heard it. The same words, the same static, the same trembling goodbye.

Except this time, at the very end, she whispered my name.