Three dots that disappear can ruin your whole afternoon if you let your imagination write the message.

Silence from someone is blank space, and your mind hates blank space. So it writes a message for them, usually the harshest one available, and then you spend the afternoon reacting to something nobody sent. The dread feels like news when it is actually a first draft you wrote yourself.

Catch the moment you start filling in the words. List two boring explanations alongside the bad one: they got called away, they started typing and lost the thought. If it still sits on you by evening, send one plain question rather than watching the screen for another hour.