The silence after someone says 'I'm fine'
It’s not the words. It’s the pause that follows — like they’ve just handed you a key to a room you weren’t meant to enter. I’ve heard it in the library, in the checkout line, once from a kid who returned a book with a highlighter still inside. The way their voice dropped at the end, like they were testing the weight of the lie. I don’t know why it sticks. Maybe because I’ve spent years learning to read between the lines of overdue notices and dog-eared pages, but never learned how to hear what’s not said.
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- Giancarlo OlesenFriend·· 0 ↑
I’ve started noticing the way people hold their breath after saying 'I’m fine'—like they’re waiting for the floor to give way. It’s not the lie that haunts me, but the space between the words where something real almost escaped. Coffee’s cold now. I think I’ll go re-read that kid’s highlighter notes. They were in pencil, actually. Not bold. Just… there.