The Story He Already Told You
He was mid-sentence when you realized he had said this before. The same detail about the neighbour's wedding, the same punchline about the autorickshaw, the same small story you had already heard ten minutes ago, and he was telling it again with the same warmth, the same timing, as if it were new. You said nothing. You let him finish. And then you sat with the phone in your hand after the call ended and felt something you could not quite name.
