I've had a lot of memories, but there's this one that still sticks in my brain till now; it's literally living in my mind. It happens to be a WhatsApp message, yet it's one that has refused to fade with time.
It was just like every other night; I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary and was just watching videos on YouTube and minimizing to respond to my messages on WhatsApp and Facebook. The only thing that felt different was the fact that I normally would have slept at that time, but that night, sleep seemed to be far from me, and that was why I resorted to watching videos.
Later, I focused more on the video I was watching since no messages seemed to be forthcoming anymore. Maybe I'm the only one left online. I thought about it because I was having a serious argument with a friend on WhatsApp at the moment, and he should have responded, but I didn't get any notifications. As I was about to minimize to check if maybe it's WhatsApp that has failed to notify me, my phone vibrated and made its usual notification tone.
I quickly minimized my phone and switched to WhatsApp, thinking it was the friend I was having an argument with, but he wasn't the one. The message was from a totally different person. Someone I didn't even save their contact. And even though the message looks simple, it seems to carry something deep.
"Are you awake?"
That was the message; I was forced to click on it and respond and to also see if it carried any further message. I opened it and found out it was the only message. The earlier message in the chat was just a few greetings, and that was months ago.
"Yes, I am." I responded.
The message was delivered and ticked blue immediately. It's obvious the individual on the other end was still inside our chat and was expecting a response. Immediately I saw the icon "typing" which means she's already typing a message back to me.
"Can you spare me some time, please? I want to talk to you about something."
As I read that, even I myself felt something. That message and the tone look heavy to me. It was very late in the night, and with that kind of question, it shows something's definitely bothering and weighing down on the person. I didn't waste time to respond as well....
"Sure, hope you're good?" I replied.
I already guessed the person would be a female, judging from the way she typed and our few earlier "hi, hi," conversations. She sent a voice note first, which was just a few seconds, but her voice kept betraying her, and even I couldn't really make much sense of what she was saying. Then she typed....
"I think it's better I just type it out. I'm sorry I am not feeling my best at the moment." She said.
"It's all right, take your time." I responded.
And she did take her time to type. I waited for about 10 minutes before her message finally came in, and the message carried something that a lot of people find so hard to share. It's not the regular kind of "I want to share something with you." This is differently deep.
(And for trust and secrecy's sake, I won't be sharing the details of the message.) Thanks for understanding.
But the person's situation is something very serious, a serious situation where you can be around lots of people and still feel alone. A serious situation where you can have all the money and still it feels useless. A situation where you know all the people that matter, yet they can't come through for you.
And while reading through her messages, I felt this person must have a high level of trust in me before sharing something of this magnitude with me. And she has decided to open up to me for a reason.
I just stayed glued to the screen for some time; I didn't know what to say. I made a voice note twice and cancelled it. Not only that, but I typed and edited the message and still deleted it again. As I was struggling with what to respond with, another message came in from her....
"I didn't know who else to share it with."
That has a different hit on me. I didn't know this lady that much; I can't even say I know her at all. We've only crossed paths twice and exchanged a few greetings on WhatsApp and then viewed each other's status updates on WhatsApp—that's all. Now I have to know that out of all the people in her life and the various calibers of people that I know she knows, she had chosen to reach out to me. Trusting me with something so personal.
I finally responded to her message the best way I could, and the conversations continued. I tried as much as possible to be careful of my usage of words so I didn't sound like I had all the answers. Not only that, but I allowed her to talk, and I, on the other hand, focused on listening and responding honestly.
"You don't have to carry everything alone."
I remember I typed that exact message at some point, and she as well responded, saying, "Thank you for your time, and thank you for listening. I feel a lot better now."
I was glad to read that, and I can tell you that it doesn't sound like a lie. I'm sure she's definitely felt better, at least for talking and opening up to someone.
And that was when I realized that everyone, no matter their age, position, and all, is going through things. It just might be different for everybody. And most of the time people aren't actually looking for the perfect advice or solutions; they just want someone who will listen to them, someone who will allow them to pour it all out and acknowledge their feelings.
We ended the conversation that night, and I was glad she felt a lot better. As of then, I still wasn't feeling sleepy. But I couldn't continue with the video I was watching; a lot was going through my mind. I locked my phone and just dropped it beside me while staring at the ceiling. I can't stop thinking first about how strange and beautiful trust can be. Someone struggling somewhere just needs someone to talk to, and I happen to be the one they thought of.
I've had a lot of conversations with various people since that night; some were deep, some long, some short, some serious, and some simple. But that happens to be the very first time someone trusted me enough to share what they were going through, and that happens to be a memory I carry with me. It taught me that sometimes, the biggest, greatest, and best thing you can offer the other person is a listening ear.
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Images are AI generated.
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