The Smallest Severance

The notification popped up in the dark,

a red banner on a black, backlit screen.

It’s the final, flickering, digital spark

of a life that has been and is no longer seen.

Your card expired or the account was closed,

and now the movies we watched are just gone.

It’s a private failure, quietly exposed

in the cold, artificial blue of the dawn.

I won't update the method or pay the fee.

I’ll let the service go dark like the rest.

It’s cheaper to live with the vacancy

than to keep on failing the test.