Phone Paranoia

I’m paranoid to be without my phone.

No, not because I’m some millennial that can’t be without it for fear of missing a text;

Or because I won’t be able to instantaneously play my turn in Words With Friends. 

Or that I won’t be the first person to retweet what that boy posted three seconds ago.

 

I’m paranoid to be without my phone because of the way that man stares at me while I’m at the gas pump like I’m his next meal.

I’m paranoid without my phone because of how many girls in my hometown have come up missing in the past month; being sold into the world of sex trafficking.

I’m paranoid without my phone because as soon as I walked into the coffee shop and noticed the group of men sitting in a corner talking, I debated whether I should sit in the cafe like I originally planned, or go back to my car.

I’m paranoid without my phone because how will I call 911 if someone follows me, grabs me, attacks me?

I’m paranoid without my phone because I’m paranoid to be a girl.

 

 

-.egw