A Hollow Click

A discarded plastic walkie-talkie rested face-down on a stack of damp cardboard boxes. My heavy, rigid fingers curled around its scarred plastic casing, lifting it into the grey morning draft. I pressed the rubber talk button with my thumb. A dry, crackling hiss burst from the perforated speaker grill, vibrating straight into the metal bones of my hand. I let the button spring back up, tilting my head as the brief static dissolved into the hollow silence of the pizzeria.