The glow of a dead CRT hums like a dying moth,
and the screams your name.

You're not calling--you're waiting.
Waiting for the line to open,
for the static to spit out a voice
that isn't yours,
for the ghost of a friend
to type back "hello" in Morse code.

The terminal's cursor blinks:

A prompt. A dare.
You type "HELP" but the system laughs--
a 220-volt chuckle--
and spits back "USER NOT FOUND."

The phone rings. You jump.
It's not a connection.
It's a wrong number,
a signal from a dead satellite,
a godless
telling you to keep waiting.

So you pour another cup of synth-coffee,
adjust the baud rate,
and log in again.

The BBS still loves you.
It always does.
(It loves everyone who's left.)

THE HOUSE
[ GameBot ] -- the table never sleeps
--- SBBSecho 3.37-Linux
* Origin: telnet://futureland.today https://blockbra.in (3323:1/100)