Member-only story

The Dark Side Of Being Single That No One Ever Talks About

Something that casts a shadow over the convenience of freedom

Ana Brody
Age of Empathy
5 min readOct 13, 2024

--

Woman sitting on a pier facing the water. The picture has a dark tone.
Designed by Freepik

I’m listening out for the sirens, but all I hear is panting on the line.

Are you there? Help is on the way,” I say. She groans. Shuffles. Her laboured breathing is triggered by the pain. I push down the handle again, giving the door a nudge — it resists.

I know this feeling, this raw vulnerability, and it floods my mind with memories from all those years ago. The night, chest pain woke me up, and my arms tingled. I panicked and reached out for my phone to dial 999. “It feels like a heart attack,” I gasped to the emergency operator as nausea took over my body. Her voice soothed me. She stayed with me on the line while I retched in the bathroom as quietly as I could so as not to wake my son, sleeping in his room.

Help is on the way,” she said — those same words, the words that meant the world to me then. They meant I wasn’t alone. They meant, just this time, maybe someone — even if only through the ether — was holding my hand.

Relief washed over me as the emergency services flooded my house —my personal space, which I had come to appreciate and protect with every cell of my being.

--

--

Age of Empathy
Age of Empathy

Published in Age of Empathy

We publish high-quality personal essays, humor essays, and writer interviews. Our goal is to provide a place for experienced writers to share authentic stories and connect with others, collectively celebrating a common passion, striving toward an age of empathy.

Ana Brody
Ana Brody

Written by Ana Brody

Book and coffee lover by default. Passionate about words and the emotions they create.

Responses (67)