Unavailable — Genuine

His friends called him "The Ghost," but that wasn't quite right. Ghosts haunted people; Elias just occupied a space they couldn't reach. To the world, his status was a permanent gray circle:

A narrative exploring a character who is emotionally distant or physically unreachable, often dealing with themes of timing, missed connections, or self-protection. unavailable

The blinking cursor was the only thing moving in Elias’s apartment. For three weeks, every text he received ended up in the same mental graveyard. His friends called him "The Ghost," but that

A common glitch or notification on platforms like Instagram and Facebook, usually caused by a post being deleted, a user blocking you, or the 24-hour time limit expiring. The blinking cursor was the only thing moving

One Tuesday, a physical letter arrived—an old-fashioned, handwritten envelope. It didn't have a "read receipt." It didn't demand an instant reply. It simply said, “I’m here when the status changes.”

Elias looked at his phone. For the first time in a month, he didn't see the word "unavailable" as a shield. He saw it as a door he had locked from the inside. He reached out, his thumb hovering over the screen, and began to type.