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'his eyes were the sea.
this is how people drown,'
[jodi picoult, the book of two ways]
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Addie looked around, and at first, the empty streets nearby seemed completely bare of anything that could help her, when something glinted in the corner of her eye.
She looked toward the source—and found it to be a payphone she hadn't noticed before. It looked quite new and shiny—so much so that the light from the streetlamp hit the glass of the booth at the perfect angle that it shone directly in her eye.
Not quite sure of what exactly drew her to it, Addie held her breath and stood—which took too much effort than normal and hurt more as she moved than anything should. It felt as though her chest was on fire; as though small blades dug into her lungs whenever she tried to breathe. She staggered as she walked with a hand over her ribcage. Each step felt like a mile as she focused on just putting one hurting foot in front of the other as the rain gushed down in a seemingly endless downpour.
Slowly, but surely enough, the payphone came closer and closer as she neared it. Addie really had no idea what she would do with it—she only knew they existed in the first place because, one Christmas, she had listened as Mr Weasley had Harry and Hermione tell him all that they knew about muggle payphones with his characteristic fascination for the ordinary.
Even then, she had never actually seen one until now.
Addie finally reached the payphone and slumped against its booth, wheezing for breath as she grabbed the phone from its hook and held it to her ear. She made to press one of the numbers when she realised two very key things about payphones.
One, as the name dictates, you have to pay, and it wasn't as though she had any sort of currency to her name or change in her skirt pocket. Two, she didn't know anybody's phone numbers in the first place. Harry in particular didn't even have a phone, let alone a number that she could reach him with. A painful ache grew in her chest, but not because of her broken ribs.
All she wanted was to talk with him—to hear his voice tell her that everything will be okay. To tell him that she's scared and everything hurts and to please, please come get her. To tell him that she doesn't know what to do or how to find him or where to go next. To tell him that she needs him more than anything else right now.
The only sounds around her were the falling raindrops intercepting the pavement and the low hum of the red phone she still held against her ear.
