The kettle boiling was the kindest sound I heard all day

Dear Delyara, Steady. Predictable. Not asking anything. I stood in the kitchen and listened to it, and for a moment it felt like the opposite of human complexity. No undertone. No hidden pressure. No social demand. Just water becoming hot at a pace that made sense. I didn’t realize until then how tired I was of deciphering. People, messages, timing, my own mood, unfinished conversations, all of it had become too semantically rich. The kettle asked nothing to be interpreted. It was only itself. I think that’s why some ordinary sounds comfort me more than kind words on certain days. They do not require emotional labor in return. Tonight the kettle was kinder than language.