The Stanley Parable

The phone call

After a while, Stanley woke up to find that the door was open. Letting out a sigh of relief, he slowly got up and walked out of his office. But before he could go any farther, something caught his attention. The phone was ringing. Who could be calling now? Curious, Stanley picked up the phone. Shock surged through him when he heard the voice. It was his 'wife'. "Hey Stanley! Just wanted to leave you a message to let you know there's a few things i need you to pick up on your way home from work today. We need milk, cereal, dish soap, spaghetti, get a thing of sugar, some bread, and some coffee beans, whichever ones you like. I'll give you a call if there's anything i forgot. Thanks sweetie, see you tonight!". The phone slowly fell from Stanley's hand and hit the floor. He stood there, frozen. Why. Why did the Narrator have to do this to Stanley. To make him suffer like this. Shoving his fake past down his throat just to give him false hope. Stanley stood there for a small bit. He felt the urge to cry. Finally, he decided to move on. 

"When Stanley came to a set of two open doors, he entered the door on his left."

Stanley sadly dragged himself through the door on the right, his thoughts completely drowning out the Narrator's usual remark. When Stanley got to the lounge, he sat on a chair and put his head in his hands. 

"Oh? What's that matter Stanley you seem down."

Stanley looked up briefly. Did the Narrator not hear the phone call? 

"I'm sure if you tell me, I can find a way to help or fix it. Problem is, you can't speak."

Stanley gave the Narrator a small, sad smile. 

"Right. How 'bout this?"

Out of nowhere, a pen and paper fell from the ceiling, onto Stanley's lap. 

"There. You can use this to tell me what the problem is."

Stanley took the pen and paper and scribbled down some words and some doodles. Then he lifted the paper up. He felt an invisible force take the paper from his hands and the paper disappeared. There was a pause. 

"A phone call? Hmm. I do recall adding in some phone calls, mostly for gags and Easter Eggs. What phone call could have possibly made you up-"

The Narrator cut off. A moment of realization must have struck him. 

"Oh. That one."

There was a long awkward pause. Stanley sighed and pulled his knees to his chest. 

"Stanley, I-.... I really don't know what to say. I put that phone call in a while ago because I felt bad after the Explosion Ending. I thought making you hear her voice again would make you feel happy.... Guess it never popped up. And then the Phone Ending happened and- oh god dammit, Stanley, I feel like a jerk now."

There was another long awkward pause. Then, Stanley felt the sensation of arms around him. 

"I'm sorry."

Deep down, Stanley felt a bit guilty. He felt guilty now that the Narrator felt guilty. Stanley didn't like the sound of the Narrator being upset. It sounded so unnatural compared to his usual tone of voice. Stanley started to feel confused at the sensation of the sudden hug. Stanley had always assumed that the Narrator was an omnipresent being, but the sudden feeling or being embraced made Stanley wonder if the Narrator was really just an invisible figure. Stanley decided to test this, by attempting to hug the Narrator. To Stanley's surprised, he managed to wrap his arms around an invisible body. For a small while, the two of them just stayed in the position before actually continuing with the story.