First Connection — the first glimpse. The first glitch in ordinary perception. A call that doesn’t fit any pattern. A person doesn’t yet know how to respond. But can no longer refuse to listen.
The one you could have become. But haven’t. Yet.
[01:04:47]
Incoming call. Number: unknown. Source: unidentified.
You hadn’t planned to answer. Just instinct.
You pressed: “Accept.”
And immediately, a voice came through — one that sounded… strangely familiar.
VOICE:
– Hello.
– Finally, you picked up.
YOU:
– Who is this?
– How do you know me?
VOICE:
– I’m not the one who knows you. I’m the one you could have become.
– You lost me. But I still remember you.
– We didn’t forget each other. We were simply separated by a decision.
YOU:
– A specific decision?
VOICE:
– There were several.
– Once, you didn’t speak up.
– Another time, you gave up.
– Then you believed you couldn’t.
– And each time, I moved one step farther away.
– But I still exist. Because you remember me as a feeling that something isn’t right.
– I am your absence. But I can speak.
You wanted to hang up. But there was something in the voice that wouldn’t let you.
Something from you. But not from here.
YOU:
– What do you want from me?
VOICE:
– Nothing.
– Just so you know: I haven’t disappeared.
– I’m still within the realm of possibility.
– I won’t be here tomorrow. But if you remember me today — I’ll draw closer.
– There is still a door.
[Pause. Then the voice seems to recede, becoming a whisper.]
VOICE:
– Once, you dreamed so intensely that it could change reality.
– Once, you believed so deeply that the Universe stepped aside.
– Where is that now?
YOU:
– I… don’t know.
VOICE:
– I do.
– You simply stopped listening.
– But you’re back on the line.
– That means it’s still possible.
[The connection breaks. But just before it disappears completely, one final sentence can be heard.]
VOICE (distant, almost like a memory):
– If you remember me — I’ll come back.
– Not as a voice.
– But as an action you finally dare to take.
Connection lost.
You are alone again. But not entirely.
There is still someone who could have become you.
And he has already called.
Марко Марсельський. Телефон Часу