Writing Prompt

I was unpacking the last of my boxes, finally nearing the end of moving into my new apartment. Carefully placing my parents’ wedding china in the cabinet and folding soft, new towels into the linen closet, I let out a deep sigh, surveying my progress.

“Only one more box, and then I’m officially all settled in,” I muttered to myself, releasing an exhausted huff.

That last box had been sitting unt...

RING! RING! RING!

I groan as I lift my head to grab my phone. I see the time as the screen come to life.

“Who the hell is calling at 2 a.m.?” I mumble grumpily as I check the caller ID. My eyes widen as I notice what it says. I bolt to an upright position and hit the answer button.

“Abby?” I say into the phone in an almost hushed tone.

“Kimmy! Oh thank God you answered! Listen I don’t have much e...

The phone rings, and it’s the last person you’d expect to be calling…

This just so happen to be Tanisha’s weekend to be on call.

And what does that entail? You may ask.

Due to being a healthcare provider one of her responsibilities required that she answer phone calls from nurses for a twenty four hour period twice a month. She would receive multiple calls from the home health nurse’s, seeking...

“Where is it??” Brody snapped in frustration, tossing items right and left in his car.

His phone had been ringing for what felt like ten minutes and he couldn’t find it. The driver in the car next to him in the parking lot gave him a curious look, but Brody was too flustered to notice.

Finally his hand grasped a smooth surface and he retrieved the device from the bottom of his McDonald’s bag.

...

On the corner table in the room sat a black object that hadn’t been there the night before, on further inspection I realized it to be a old rotary phone similar to the phone I’d used as a child. Mmmmmmm I pondered to myself has to how this phone became to be sitting there. Who could have placed the old fashion phone in the room, knowing my husband did not do the deed. I jumped when the phone start...

Hello roger, this is God calling. I just wanted to let you know that your life cable bill is about to expire and you wont be able to renew unless you start watching better shows. Forget about this so-called reality show business that’s not real my friend, it’s a bunch of made up junk that people think is real but it just isn’t. Do you really think I put masdasgar cockroaches on this earth for peop...

“Hello?” I say into the phone. “This is Frankie, how can I help you?”

“Oh God,” a woman’s shocked voice replies. “Frankie. It’s really you.”

“Who is this, please?”

“It’s… Mom.”

I stand there, dumbfounded. My mother, the one who left me and my five siblings six years ago. That mom. Joy.

“What do you want?” I ask. “Money?“

“No, no. I just wanted to see how you’re doing.”

“Me? I’m great. Fine...

It was a cold sunny Friday afternoon. My friends Mark, Jonathan, and I just came home from school making plans for the Valentine’s Dance at our high school, looking good for our dates. We took the Uber to the school dance, and as we arrived we waited at the long line counting up how much cash we got in our pockets. My friends and I got 40 dollars each. I had 2 twenty dollar bills, Jonathan had 8 f...

Thank you for Calling Blue Shield Health Services. This is Joel, how can I help you?

Hey Joel, I’m Helen. I’m calling because the other day I had a head injury when I was out jogging. I was wondering if I could book an appointment with any doctor? I would like a CT scan as well.

…

Hello Wade?

Yeah. I’m still here. I’m sorry. Can I please have your Medical Number?

Sure. It’s 92385

Okay…

...

When I saw the caller ID notification I quickly answered, excited. We hadn’t spoken in years.

“Hello, Linda. it’s your old teacher, Kathy. I came across your name in an old address book.

“I wondered how you were doing. Last time I saw you, you didn’t seem right.”

“Well, I didn’t know that Patty intended to talk to me at that community meeting you invited me to. You should have told me. Maybe I wou...