admin
22 December 2023
Hello?
Who's there?
Click!
Hello?
Anyone there?
Click!
It's happening again. More and more often I've been getting these calls. It used to be that they'd come once or twice a month. On those days, they would happen and then be over. Then it went to two or three times a week. Now it's every day. Over and over again the ringing. I pick up the phone, and no one's there. It's gotten that I don't want to be here anymore. When I come home from work, from the store, from the bar,.. I've called the phone company, but they won't help me. They won't trace the line like they do in the movies.
This kind of thing happened once when I was a kid. One afternoon someone kept calling and hanging up. All afternoon it went on. My mother eventually unplugged the phone and just sat crying on the couch. By the evening, when my father got home, he would call her stupid for letting it get to her. But he wasn't there; he didn't know. The uncertainty. Not knowing if the person calling is 50 miles away, or watching you from across the street.
Hello?
Who is this?
Click!
Sometimes I hear noises coming from above me. There's a family up there. Sometimes I think I hear the floor squeaking outside my apartment. Like someone's got their ear against the door, listening to what's going on inside. A few times I've run over to look out the peephole, but there hasn't been anyone there. I could've sworn there was. Lots of Klip! Klop! above me. The children running back and forth across the apartment. I wonder what they do when they're not running. Sometimes they're too quiet.
Hello?
Who are you?
Click!
Children like to play pranks. I remember. Not that I was the butt of all the jokes. But children are cruel. They get into things they're not supposed to. They cause havoc. They don't consider the feelings of others. I've asked them nicely to stop harassing me. These calls are getting to be too much! And what did that oafish father do? He grabbed me and threatened to punch me if I didn't leave his little brats alone! Goddamn them! They just Klip! Klop! louder! They're going to see one day how their actions affect others! Someone might get a gun! Some one might show all of them!!
Hello?!?
Who the fuck is this?!?
CLICK!
Sweet Mother of God. Is the phone even ringing?
Who's there?
Click!
Hello?
Anyone there?
Click!
It's happening again. More and more often I've been getting these calls. It used to be that they'd come once or twice a month. On those days, they would happen and then be over. Then it went to two or three times a week. Now it's every day. Over and over again the ringing. I pick up the phone, and no one's there. It's gotten that I don't want to be here anymore. When I come home from work, from the store, from the bar,.. I've called the phone company, but they won't help me. They won't trace the line like they do in the movies.
This kind of thing happened once when I was a kid. One afternoon someone kept calling and hanging up. All afternoon it went on. My mother eventually unplugged the phone and just sat crying on the couch. By the evening, when my father got home, he would call her stupid for letting it get to her. But he wasn't there; he didn't know. The uncertainty. Not knowing if the person calling is 50 miles away, or watching you from across the street.
Hello?
Who is this?
Click!
Sometimes I hear noises coming from above me. There's a family up there. Sometimes I think I hear the floor squeaking outside my apartment. Like someone's got their ear against the door, listening to what's going on inside. A few times I've run over to look out the peephole, but there hasn't been anyone there. I could've sworn there was. Lots of Klip! Klop! above me. The children running back and forth across the apartment. I wonder what they do when they're not running. Sometimes they're too quiet.
Hello?
Who are you?
Click!
Children like to play pranks. I remember. Not that I was the butt of all the jokes. But children are cruel. They get into things they're not supposed to. They cause havoc. They don't consider the feelings of others. I've asked them nicely to stop harassing me. These calls are getting to be too much! And what did that oafish father do? He grabbed me and threatened to punch me if I didn't leave his little brats alone! Goddamn them! They just Klip! Klop! louder! They're going to see one day how their actions affect others! Someone might get a gun! Some one might show all of them!!
Hello?!?
Who the fuck is this?!?
CLICK!
Sweet Mother of God. Is the phone even ringing?
artid
1619
Old Image
6_1_jmil.jpg
issue
vol 6 - issue 01 (sep 2003)
section
pen_think