The sun's rising rays gilded the resplendent forests. Birds cooed and cawed whilst trees swayed. This island is covered by forests and has a limited number of carpeted roads. These roads only led from the school to the village.
Alisha walks back home after school along the road back to her village. While walking back home she imagined how her life would be if she was living at the times where her Great grandmother used to live on this island and the times when all her ancestors were witches. It would be fun, fun to learn witchcraft than living a prisoned life confined to school and home.
Her eyes caught the sight of the old and abandoned Telephone booth beside the road. With a mossy roof, wooden box with square shaped glass windows, and only one person could fit inside it."I wonder how old this telephone booth is ? 50 years? 100 years? Does it even work though? " , she wondered as if it was the first time she'd encountered this abandoned telephone booth.
The man next door to Alisha's disappeared from the village a few months ago, without any trace or clue of what happened to him. For a couple of months people didn't take much note of his disappearance as he travelled back and forth to London for his business. It was when his family who were in London came looking for him , the people in the village realised that this man was missing. A few days later, a photographer who was staying for a few months on this island reported that he had seen this man inside the telephone booth. According to him, that man was in a hurry as if he was running away from a monster and he was trying to use the broken and abandoned telephone booth. It was however confirmed that this was the last time someone had seen him in this Island.
Alisha was so curious about this mystery. She decided to go inside the telephone booth. To see if this old booth is still in a condition to be used.Alisha tore some wines down as they were holding the door tight and it was difficult to open the door. However, she could open the tall broken door with some effort. As she went inside the booth she had to close the door because there was a limited space and it was even difficult for her to turn. She had an eerie feeling and one part of her reminded that what she was going to do was something that she shouldn't be doing. She searched for an instruction paper, on the sides of the payphone, on the floor…
Then she saw it fixed on the side of the box. But the instructions were even weirder.Instructions
Enter your Reign number first (must be a TWO digit number.)
Then enter the last four digits of your number."What in the world is this Reign number?Kings' or Queens' reign!!? And why must it be a two digit number only?!!" , she questioned herself as there wasn't anyone whom she could have asked.
Out of curiosity, she held the phone from her left hand and started entering random numbers. She pressed 0 and 9 and 1970 which was the last four digits of her phone number. She thought her phone would ring. But … it didn't….The light bulb fixed on the ceiling of the box started to flicker. The telephone booth started shuddering and shaking as white steam emerged from the ground outside. Alisha dropped the phone. The gravity pulled her down to the ground. She looked outside through the glass. Roads, animals, vehicles , trees, buildings all were like changing backwards in TIME. It was like watching life being rewinded. She was scared to death, not being able to figure out what exactly was happening around her.
Alisha's breath escaped in short bursts. It was impossible to breathe.
What was going on?
Everything came to a stop. The box stopped shuddering, losing its momentum gradually.
Fog covered the whole area outside. However, she could see a narrow gravel path on where the wide carpeted road was. She couldn't see the top roof of her school. There were trees almost everywhere. They were huge trees when compared with the trees which were actually there before.Alisha's mind raced. She frantically looked around. She heard screams from inside the forest. She got up and started pressing every number on the number pad of the payphone, trying to find a way back home. She knew it was absurd but … what else could she do?...
Payphone rings …
Alisha's mind went blank.
What was it this time!??
She slowly kept the phone near her ear."Greetings dear child!
So… another guest i suppose…
Interesting!"It was a voice of a woman. Rather smooth… and a bit creepy…
Alisha turned back as she heard a tapping sound on the glass.That must be the woman.
This woman had dark hair and had deep set uneven eyes. She was wearing a long black dress.
She was holding an old telephone.
She was grinning at her…
"Is that a witch?" Alisha's eyes widened and her mouth dropped as her mind got filled with all the stuff she had heard about THE WITCHES on this ISLAND A CENTURY AGO….
YOU ARE READING
The Telephone Booth
Short StoryA man in the village of an Island goes missing. This man was last seen inside the old and aban telephone booth. Alisha, a 16 years old girl who was so curious about this mystery goes inside this telephone booth after school. What happened to Alish...