my phone just went completely dark, no warning, just ceased to be, and for a full breath there was this profound release, this actual lightness in my chest, like a heavy weight i hadn't even realized i was carrying just… dissolved, but then, almost immediately, this faint, almost imperceptible prickle of guilt started to surface, a familiar twitch behind my ribs that used to scream about all the people i must be letting down, all the “just a quick favor” texts i wouldn’t see, all the little fires i wouldn’t be able to put out for everyone else who always seemed to need me for something, usually when my battery was already at 2% anyway, and it's wild how that reflex still tries to grab hold, that deep-seated apology for being unavailable, for not being tethered to everyone else's urgent needs, even though the actual feeling of peace is so much bigger now, like a vast ocean that just swallows up the tiny wave of that frantic, apologetic energy.