1-800-SUICIDE

1-800-ME

   the next day when harry awoke in his large apartment, he opened his eyes and smiled.

   he shut off his alarm clock on his phone that was blasting a new song he discovered. even though it had some sad lyrics, it was the upbeat tune he really enjoyed listening to.

   he got up, humming the same tune and stretched a bit with a loud yawn. then, he went to the bathroom to shower and brush his teeth. after dressing himself and eating breakfast- eggs and beef bacon- he fixed himself up for lunch today.

  then, he left out to go to work.

   this was his life, happy with barely - if any- problems. he had a depressing job but he enjoyed it.

   he could never truly understand what people that call him are going through, but he can always try his best and grasp some understanding from it.

   he arrives at work and has to immediately switch places with another worker who refuses to leave their shift.

   "harry, i can't leave, someone needs me." emery whispered to him, she was a small petite girl with caramel skin and the biggest heart.

  harry sighed, it was always a struggle to get her away during a call when she needed to switch shifts. she was there since 9 pm yesterday.

  "emery, c'mon. your shift has ended, i need to log in." harry tells her. he understood her concerns, he really did, but he had to work too or else they'd both get in trouble.

  "i'm so sorry, hannah, excuse me." emery holds the black telephone to her chest and glares at harry, "one more minute." she states.

  harry rolls his eyes, "fine." he leaves her be and decides to let time fly past by getting himself a coffee in the break room. a couple of other workers and volunteers were there chatting and drinking some tea.

   three minutes later harry chose to go back and check on emery who had ended the call.

  "they had to go," emery explained, being cut off with a loud yawn. she was pretty tired.

  "go get some rest, em. you have to come back at 9 again tonight, get all the sleep you can." harry told her, having sympathy for his small friend.

  harry hugged her and she muttered an 'okay' as the telephone rung once again.

  "gotta take this, bye." harry told her and sat in the black desk spin chair. he cleared his throat then proceeded to grab the phone.

  "hello?...hi, how may i help you?.." and thus his day officially begins.

****

   he talks to at least 15 people in 2 hours. some are mean and scared, some are sarcastic and sad, some are sad and dead on honest. all 15 had different situations, different problems.

   all so unique, all so similar yet different in their own way. and what harry means by that is that for an example, he had around three call about domestic abuse in their home.

   the difference was small, it ranged in ages, how long it had been happening, how it happened, why, and who was doing the abusing.

   two sexual abuse victims, one knew the abuser, one didn't know their abuser and was intoxicated when it happened. they said once they realized what was happening that sobered up quickly, but by that time they couldn't have escaped no matter how much they fought.

  and while harry listened he felt so sad, they must have felt weak, disgusted, they must have felt hopeless. like no matter how much they fought or kicked, they were still small and weak.

  at least that's how harry imagines they feel, he wants to understand and help.

   on his lunch break, harry thought about his failed mission yesterday. the thought that he didn't know what was going on with that person and they couldn't talk killed him.

  he logged his number and name in, usually most companies with phone lines like this don't save that type of thing, but this one did.

  harry spent his lunch time eating and thinking about the person he spoke to on the phone with. he chewed somberly on his tuna salad sandwich until emery came into the break room.

  "hey, har. what's wrong?" she asked him, her big, round eyes showed concern through her black rimmed glasses.

  harry seemed to switch his mind back on, a small smile forming. "oh nothing, em. just thinking about something."

  emery hummed before smacking her lips and nodded, "well, okay. it's not upsetting you is it?"

  harry had to smile wider and even chuckle. his friend truly did have a huge heart, she really cared about anyone and everyone.

  "not anymore, i'll get over it. thanks for checking up on me, emery." harry thanked his short friend whilst moving to stand and pack his lunch.

  lunch break was almost over.

  "no problem! love ya, hun. stay safe." she grinned. what a cute ball of sunshine. she adjusted her pink and yellow suspenders and walked away.

  she was quite known around the office for her unique fashion style. today she was wearing a pastel pink shirt with pink and yellow suspenders with skinny boyfriend jeans.

  harry headed back to his post and continued work.

****

  it was almost 12, harry and 6 other people were left in the office still taking calls. surprisingly, less calls happened at night and harry had just finished logging in his last call and number.

  harry was almost falling asleep against his white cubicle wall when his office phone began to ring.

he jumped in fright, after he calmed down he sighed and wiped his tired eyes.

  he almost stopped breathing once he recognized the number.

it was 5 seconds after he realized that he picked up the phone...

have a lovely day.

-Z

 written: october 9th, 2018
published: october 14th, 2018