The TELEPHONE Game

The TELEPHONE Game


Her eyes were fixated on the telephone that hung on the wall. It was an old fashioned pay phone made of black molded plastic and shiny silver metal. The rotary dial, with its bold alphabetized numbers, confused Laura, but she knew somehow it was her link to help. She held an obscure memory of the contraption but the invention was from a different era. She pushed her fingertips into her jean pocket unwittingly digging for a coin that would somehow deliver her to safety. She hoped to convey the dire emergency of her situation to some faceless voice residing in the black box.

She picked up the receiver, holding it to her face. She screamed a lilting song of panic, "Hello, Hello?" The coin still rested in her gripped fist, unsure of the proper insertion site. No disembodied voice answered her call. She studied the dial, thinking it looked important but was clueless as to how it would help.

Laura inhaled, trying to hold back the panic. She looked behind her to ensure the predators had not followed her. For the moment she deemed herself safe and focused on reading the instructions typed on the phone. The number "0" was the recurring theme of the printed directions. Laura placed her forefinger on the zero slot and pushed hard against the plastic. She repeated her frenzied call of "Hello" without a response.

Visibly angry and quite terrified, Laura slammed the receiver back into its cradle. She looked around the room for another method of contacting help. It was an old country pharmacy, with the shelves lined by first aid items, products promising luxurious hair, and signs promoting safe sex.

She decided to search the first aisle to treat the gash on her arm. The nasty wound was caused by the Alien's blaster when she escaped. She shivered, remembering how close they had come to neutralizing her. They had materialized from nowhere, and all of the sudden were everywhere. She had watched her friends disappear in a translucent glow of fire. Laura had no way of knowing how widespread the Alien presence was but she knew it was a threat to humanity. She was determined to warn the authorities.

Laura and her friends had spent the day sledding down the snowy hills. It was all fun and games until the one-eyed, hairless, gargantuan travelers descended. A fight for life ensued.

She wrapped her arm haphazardly and returned to the pay phone. She smiled at the memory of her grandmother forcing her to watch her nostalgic old movies. The scene of some old bald dude promoting the movie "Dial M for Murder" replayed in her mind. She picked up the receiver confident in her newfound abilities. Laura thrust the coin in the slot and dialed "0".

"Help, help," she screamed.

"You have reached the new Alien network. We will be there shortly to complete the neutralization of your being. Please, wait while I direct your call," the operator instructed.

Laura hung up.

Word count 500