Myself Day

The phone rang. April opened her eyes and rolled over in bed, ‘not today please,’ she muttered. Tugging a pillow over her head, she settled back down.

There was a knocking at the front door. April moaned, ‘not now,’ and turned over.

Something was tugging at the duvet, then there was a weight on her legs. April, disgruntled and looking dishevelled, peered to see what it was.

‘Hello, cat,’ she said and scooped the tabby up.

Snuggling her pet, April went back to sleep again, lulled by the cat’s purring.

A tapping on a window downstairs came next. April shifted around and decided the warm, heaviness of her bedding wasn’t worth the effort to move. Ignoring the sound, she drifted off again.

Another ring of the phone. The shrill tone echoing through the quiet house like a warning alarm. April unwrapped the cat from around her head and pulled down the duvet.

‘Go away!’ she shouted at the phone. She picked it up and slammed it back down.

April lay back and looked at the ceiling. Her cat crawled on to her chest and curled up there.

‘Today is a myself day and I don’t want to talk to anyone,’ April spoke.

 

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Numbers #3LineTales

What were the numbers on the wall? Who put them there and what did they mean? Caz puzzle over this. He wanted to just say they were graffiti, kids messing around with the Devil’s number.

There was something, Caz’s six sense said, that he just couldn’t shake though. He pulled out his phone and put the numbers in. He hoped they were just meaningless and no one picked up.

There was a crackle, a tinny, distant voice began speaking in his ear, ‘A Hell demon speaking. Who is this?’

 

(Inspired by; https://only100words.xyz/2019/08/15/three-line-tales-week-185/ with thanks).

Ring Ring

The phone rang and rang but there was no one left alive in the house to answer it anymore.

Dead Line

The house phone rang and because I was hard at work editing my magazine, I picked it up on auto.

‘Hello?’ I spoke.

‘Good afternoon, Mrs Guilding,’ an man with a heavy Indian accent spoke.

I frowned into the phone. A cold caller for sure. I carried on typing away, too busy to stop.

The voice continued speaking without seeming to pause for breath, ‘my name is Kevin and I am calling you from the Peoples’ Life Survey. May I ask you some household questions? It’ll only take a few minutes of your time.’

‘Sorry, I’m not interested…’ I cut in.

‘Please, Mrs. I shall make it as quick as possible,’ Kevin voice’s rushed.

I sighed. I didn’t have time for this. I went to say goodbye and hang up the phone but Kevin bet me to speaking.

‘Don’t worry!’ he said.

Then the line went dead.

Puzzled, I took my phone from my ear before pressing it back again. The dial tone beeped like a steady heartbeat. I hit the end call button and placed the phone down. I could get on with my editing again.

A strange feeling crept over me. My mind began turning over those words and making them into some sinister.

I stopped working and got up. I had been sat for about four hours. Now, my body became awake. I had to use the bathroom and get a drink, maybe some food. Walking past the window, I peered out through the blinds. Everything looked normal out there. I walked out of the study, went to the bathroom then the kitchen.

Whilst I was making coffee and a sandwich, the phone rang again.

Ah! Kevin. We must have just got cut off. There’s nothing weird going on.

I picked up the kitchen phone, fully expecting to hear his voice again. Instead all I got was a beeping sound followed by white noise.

I checked the phone out, wondering if it was something wrong with my line. Placing the phone back, I picked it up again. The dial tone was just as steady as before. Shrugging, I finished making my late lunch and went into the conservatory to eat it.

The glass room was warm and comforting. The pale walls and wicker furniture give it a summer feel though looking outside the weather had decided to rain today. Settling into the sofa, I listened to the wind and rain outside, relaxing into the silence.

The phone rang. I had sandwich in my mouth. Swallowing, I got up and answered the phone.

‘Hello?’ I spoke.

The line was fuzzy was static.

A voice broke through, ‘Kevin…The Peoples’ Life Survey…I ask you question?’

‘I’m sorry. The line is really bad,’ I responded.

‘Make it quick, yes,’ Kevin shouted.

‘No. Bye.’

I hung up the phone.

When I had finished lunch, I sat for a few more minutes and watched the rain fall. Kevin was still on my mind. What was that all about? I glanced at the phone. Willing it to ring, so I could asked him.

The phone stayed silent for the rest of the day.

Cold Calling

The phone was ringing again. Sallie put the pillow over her head, pressing it down over her ears. She breathed deeply, listening to her harsh breaths and the only slightly muffled sound of the phone. She counted slowly, trying to remember how many times it had rung today. She reach six then stopped.

Tossing the pillow aside, she got up and stormed down the hallway of the bungalow. she snatched the phone up from its living room stand and answered it.

‘Hello?’

‘Miss Pearman?’ a too cheery male voice asked.

‘Yes’?

‘Did you know you could be owned money on your PPI?’

Sallie sighed, ‘I’m not interesting, please remove my number from your list.’

She hung up and took the phone back  into the bedroom with her. Settling down again, she wondered how she was going to get enough sleep for her night shift at the hospital tonight.

The phone ran again.

She eyed it and thought about unplugging it. Instead, she picked it up and asked, ‘who is it was this time?’

‘We’re looking at replacing windows and doors in your area right now,’ a loud female voice spoke, ‘would you be interested in a quote?’

‘No thanks. Please remove my number and stop calling me,’ Sallie snapped and hung up.

She put the phone on the bedside table and tried to get back to sleep again. She muttered to herself about the terrible people. Just as she was dozing off again, the phone rang for a third time. Sallie opened her eyes and looked over. Wondering if suddenly the word had got out that she was  answering her phone.

She answered and pressed the phone to her ear.

‘Hello? an Indian accented woman asked.

‘What you want?’ Sallie asked, sleepy.

‘Madam, I’m from Windows tech support and your computer has been sending us messages that it has a virus. Can you please turn your PC on so I can help you sort this problem out?’

‘That’s it!’ Sallie yelled.

She hung up, threw the duvet away and stomped down the hallway. Spotting the phone plug at the wall near the door, she pulled it out.

‘There! that should stop all you cold callers!’ She cried.

Call

Dora had just left the office and decided to walk home. It was a nice enough evening, if a little bit cool. She’d had one of those rare good days and was feeling cheerful. Drifting off into her own thoughts, she rounded the corner and walked down the side of her building.  The narrow side street contained only a handful of other people and they were dashing in either direction, which would lead them out into the more popular streets.

Unhurried, Dora walked downwards, ahead she could see the pavement merging into a larger one and people passing by the opening. To Dora they all seemed like young business people rushing to meetings or other places. A taxi zoomed by with a loud horn blast and a voice rose up in an angry shout after it. Typical city life, Dora thought.

A phone started ringing somewhere then stopped, presumably answered. She gave it no thought, like the rest of the phones in the office, it wasn’t her job to answer them. She walked under a half opened window and thought how nice the breeze was on her face.

‘Dora! Dora!’

She turned, expecting someone from the office to be behind her, but no one was there. Confused, she looked harder and saw receptionist Jen hanging out of the window with a telephone.

‘What are you doing, Jen?’ Dora called.

‘There’s a phone call for you.’

‘But no one ever calls me!’

Jen shrugged and held the phone out to her. Dora walked back and reached up for the phone, taking it she put it to her ear. The phone’s cord pressed tight against the brick wall and Jen tried to place the other half of the phone on the window sill without listening into the conversation.

‘Hello? Yes, it is. Who? Oh? How unusual. Are you sure it’s me you want, dear?’ Dora paused, then turned away to whisper into the phone.

Jen closed the window, but continued to stare to Dora. She had no idea what was going on, but the man’s voice on the other end had seemed polite and she was already imagining him in her mind. He was probably tall, dark haired and smartly dressed. Jen sighed and lent on the sill, a dreamy look on her face.

‘I see,’ Dora was saying, ‘well, if that’s how it is. Tomorrow should be fine. Thank you.’

She turned back as the phone went dead in her hand. Glancing at it, she then had to tap it on the window to get Jen’s attention. Smiling, she handed the phone back as Jen swung open the frame.

‘Who was it? What’s happened?’ Jen asked in a rush of words.

‘Nothing really,’ Dora replied.

‘Please?’ Jen begged, clutching the phone tightly.

‘I’ve been called in by the secret service,’ Dora hissed and then walked away, leaving Jen hanging out of the window after her.