more alive

"Brinnggg" her phone went off and it was the moment everything changed. She had just pulled up to the Starbucks, feeling triumphant at finishing yet another class and completing yet another masterpiece. But this phone call slammed her into reality. "Her sister... a car crash... dead upon arrival." What had meant to be a celebration turned into a melancholy trance. Where she walked in, ordered and stared at the hustle and bustle around her, like ants in a hill, running around each other, minding their own business, men and women on a mission. It was like their lives hadn't disintegrated in front of their eyes. The constant hum of commotion has her breath caught in her own chest because somehow each one of these people were alive... she was alive... and surely, if they were, if she was, so was her sister. If she just stayed in this shop and if the ants kept doing their running, then the truth may escape her and for a moment, she could feel more alive.