Dichotomy

A message from an email address I did not recognize. Cryptic, it said only this: ‘He will not last much longer.’

I had been tasked with walking the neighbor’s dog. She had requested that I message her once I had done so and although I had walked the dog, I had forgotten to send an email.

My first thought was that the message was from my neighbor and I responded accordingly. But it bounced right back, undeliverable.

And then I began to wonder. ‘He will not last much longer’ could have a very different meaning in my world.

My neighbor has been apprised that all is well with her pet. I, however, am now on edge and ruing the fact that I am not more meticulous when it comes to recording contact information.

I am also reminded of how close the mundane can be to the extreme, and life to death. How we can use the same language to reference two very different things. And how this is both comforting and disconcerting.

Dichotomous.