Waiting

I sat in the dark for fifteen minutes

and nobody came to tell me to leave.

The screen was just black.

Not a logo. Not a countdown.

Just nothing.

The seats around me were empty

except for three other people

scattered like we were trying to be alone together.

Nobody moved.

Nobody checked their phone.

We were all just sitting there

waiting for the theater to remember

what it was supposed to do.

I tried to see my hands

and couldn't.

That kind of dark.

Then someone coughed.

Not loud. Just a small sound

that traveled across the empty rows

like it mattered.

And I realized we were waiting

for permission to start existing

in this particular room.

That we'd all bought tickets

to sit in this specific void

before the real thing began.

The dark kept going.

I kept sitting.

The screen stayed black.