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Thursday, August 12, 2021

Hello, Hello, Hello, Hello

 


The phone rings and the voice on the other side lets out a feeble hello.

So weak that it implies I'm in pain, please help me.

Another ring and this time the voice on the other side lets out a joyful hello.

So cheerful that it means I'm so happy you called.

One more ring the voice and the voice on the other side lets out a speedy hello.

So quick that it's as if no one has called in a while and the person doesn't want to miss this one.

Another couple of rings and just before it goes to the voice message a long – stretched - caught – in – a - yawn hello is uttered.

So stretched that you know that the person on the other side was fast asleep.

A few more calls and no more hellos.

Just a voice message asking you to leave a message after the tone.

You don´t leave one for you know the call cannot be returned

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

No one home.

No one on the other side.

No one to care about you.

No one to listen to you.

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

Please leave a message after the tone!

 

Written: August 11, 2021

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Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Suicide or Murder?

 

During the pandemic so many lives were lost; just in Brazil over 500,000. Tragic times. Even so, many people refuse to be vaccinated. In addition to that, many people live their lives as if everything has ended, the virus has been eradicated and one is free to live his or her life without caring about the people around them. No need to follow that World Health Organization protocols.

Carlos had been a nurse since he graduated from university. He really enjoyed his job and was pleased to be able to help people overcome their illnesses. The patients at the hospital where he presently worked were always happy to see him because every day he greeted them with a broad smile and a positive story. Little did they know that behind that bright smile and cheerful stories, there lived an extremely depressed man.

He hadn´t always been depressed. It just so happened that during the pandemic, besides losing so many patients per day and having to choose those who could be saved and those who were left to die due to lack of equipment and lack of medication, he opened a little box in his heart and mind. Nobody was overly worried about the hospital staff´s mental health although this was something that Carlos tried to bring up all the time at staff meetings. Deep down inside he was crying out for help. Nonetheless whenever he had to face a patient, he would always broaden that smile.

Tragically a year and a half after this battle against COVID and not being infected once, Carlos was found dead in the medication room. He had overdosed. They found his body on the floor and the injection resting next to his corpse. After thorough investigation, they discovered that the injection had been filled with extremely powerful anesthesia. Eventually Carlos did not suffer; he just went to sleep and never woke up.

On that night, his wife kept calling his cell phone and it went straight to the voice message which probably meant either two things: the phone was off, or his battery had perished. She could feel that something was wrong. Every night she would call Carlos to see how he was doing for she knew that he was suffering quietly. She knew her husband well.

The morning his body was found Carlos´s wife´s ex-husband, who happened to be a policeman drove to her home and said that he would drive her to the hospital because apparently Carlos was not feeling so well. You see she, her husband and her ex-husband had managed to become friends because of her first son. Carlos loved his stepson to pieces and her ex-husband really appreciated this.

Arriving at the hospital, the head nurse was there to give them the news, the policeman already knew what was coming. However, Carlos´s wife had no clue; she just wanted to see her husband. When she looked at the expression on her ex-husband´s face, she knew that Carlos was not alive any longer.

They took her to the location where the body had been found. They had to wait for the police to finish investigating the scene, in the meantime, the wife was handed her husband's belongings and she was hoping for a letter or a note to explain why he had taken his life. He had been going through some sad moments, but Carlos loved life itself. She looked through the package and noticed that his cell phone was missing.

Her ex-husband called Carlos´s cell which rang and rang until a man´s voice answered. Someone had stolen it. Now, this had really turned into a crime scene and needed to be investigated.

Currently, people believe that Carlos had in fact been killed.

Written: August 10, 2021 (Carlos is a fictitious name. This is based on a true story that happened in July to a friend´s husband. It is still under investigation, but the police are quite sure that there was a murder.)


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