"Hello?"

Silence.

"Hello! Is that you?" I knew it was her.

Silence.

"Who is this?" she responded tentatively later. Much, much later.

"What do you mean, ‘who is this?’" I said, mimicking her gruffy voice. She still sounds the way she always has been. But not quite. "Kamusta ka na?"

I hope I sounded friendly. Like old time’s sake.

"Oh it’s you," she said. She has assumed the tone of a funeral directress. She didn’t even answer my question.

"So.…Happy New Year!" I said brightly. Too brightly, looking back now. Like I knew there was something wrong but pretending not to know it.

"Yeah. Listen, this is a bad time," she said. And that was all. No ‘Call back in 5 minutes’ or ‘Try later’ or ‘But I’ll call back.’

"I see…Galit ka pa ba sa akin?" Then I waited. For ten years. Maybe twenty. God, was it such a hard question to answer?

"No time to talk. Busy," she said, just spitting out only necessary words to be understood and no more. "Party."

"Party?!?" I said, trying to stifle a snigger. I don’t mean to sound sarcastic but there was no background noise at all. Maybe it was a séance party where people sit in a circle until everyone falls in a trance? Or a party for the mute? The deaf? What?!?

Besides, she didn’t sound like she was in party mode at all.

"Wow. Really? Cool," I said in tone that says I didn’t believe her at all. But have to keep trying. "So how come I wasn’t invited? I could come over, you know…bring some beer…round up some people…"

"Er, we’re just finishing up," she said too abruptly. "Why did you call?"

Ouch. Wasn’t it obvious? I wanted to catch up…to go back to the past so we could add to the future…

But I was too proud to say it. Suddenly, anger rose from within. Why must she make this so difficult? Can’t she see that I’m squirming at the other end of line? Didn’t she know this is effort on my part? Why can’t she just let sleeping dogs lie?

Why can’t we just be friends again?

"I….wanted to greet you ‘Happy New Year’" I said. Somehow, though, it didn’t sound that way. My voice sounded far away, too; like coming from the other side of the beach. The island at the horizon. Perceptible but unreachable. Always.

"Why did you call.…now?" she repeated.

And that’s when I understood. Why did I call now? Now that we’ve both forgotten why our friendship became estranged in the first place——yet still remember that we have not spoken for years. So shouldn’t be speaking at all. Even now. Time has not been a friend.

"I… don’t know," I said after ten years. Maybe twenty. Then, to my surprise, I finally said, "You’re busy, aren’t you?"

"Yes. Busy," she said quietly. "Goodbye." Then she hung up.

No ‘Call back in 5 minutes’ or ‘Try later’ or ‘But I’ll call back.’ No surprise.

She’s busy. So am I. So we both have been all these years. Busy. Too busy.

While the bridge burned to the ground. While dial tone turned to busy tone.

Next year…next time…I’ll know better. No, this year, this time, I know better.

So I got my mobile phone. And then I typed ‘‘Happy New Year! How are you? Long time, no hear. Let’s get together soon, ok? Let’s find time, ok?"

Then I sent the message out to all the names in my ‘Contact’ file. All the names.

So that next year, when I call, whoever’s left won’t be busy.