Writing Prompts

Telephone

Prompt: You come home to find an old-fashioned telephone on your coffee table. No wires, no cords. It rings.

Minimum:1000 words
                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~
I open my purse searching for my keys. When I find them I unlock my door and walk in.

The television in my room is still on so I go to turn it off. Before I do I see the breaking news headline.

"According to a police source, another man has gone missing in the same manner as the other three in the last three days. His name is Brian Walker, a 25-year-old, last seen by his wife at their home in Northern Hilton. He is suspected to have gone missing around 10:05 pm. Local police are concerned about the rapid disappearances and have called in help from the FBI. They believe that these disappearances are related to similar ones from ten years ago and twenty years ago. In both cases, four men went missing in the span of four days. Twenty years ago the bodies were never found. However, in the next string of kidnappings, the bodies were found." The woman on the television babbles on for a while. She talks about how men need to be careful because of what is happening. Eventually, I get bored of listening to her talk and turn off my television.

I walk into my kitchen and find the bowls that I left out this morning with my dinner portions in them.

There is a pink bowl labeled 9:30 am. Which I ate for breakfast but forgot to clean up. Then there is a blue bowl labeled 9:30 pm. He likes to keep me on a strict diet. I can only eat at 9:30 am and pm.

I grab the blue bowl and heat it up. While it is in the microwave I check the time to make sure it is okay to eat.

I pull the bowl out of the microwave and grab a fork out of the clean dishwasher.

I eat my food and clean up the kitchen before walking back into the living room.

When I reenter the living room there is the phone sitting on my coffee table. It's an old rotary phone. It is a bronze color.

As I'm admiring the phone like I do every time it appears. It starts to ring.

I smile. It's him. He always calls at 10 pm. On the dot. I've always wondered how he manages to make the phone ring without it being hooked up to anything.

I shrug and pick up the phone but don't say anything. He hates when I do that.

"Hi Darlin', I have more for you." his raspy southern accent comes from the other side.

"Really?" I ask excitedly.

"Yes but this is the last one for a while." he sounds quite sad about it.

"Aww, I was hoping you could stay longer this time," I said also disappointed.

"I know Darlin'," he pauses which accentuates his southern drawl "but I can't."

"I know." I sigh "Do you know when you will be back?"

"It's always the same." I look at the clock 10:01. He has to leave in one minute. "Look I have to go now Darlin'. Check your front door and don't you forget about me."

"Okay, bye for now." I sigh again "I'll miss you".

The line goes dead. I wish he could stay for longer.

I walk to my front door and sure enough, there is another blue bowl and another pink bowl.

I take them into the kitchen and put them in the refrigerator.

I walk through the living room to get the staircase and notice the phone is gone.

I walk up the stairs into my bedroom.

I lay in bed and think about what I will do now that he isn't telling me what to eat anymore.

I sigh. I'll figure it out when I get there.

As I drift to sleep I find myself wondering about him. I don't know anything about him really at all.

I wake up to my alarm at 8 am as usual.

I shower after I fully wake up. I make my way downstairs dressed and ready for the day at about 9:25 am.

I turn on the television and the news is still on.

"It seems that yet another man has gone missing. Kyle Porter, a 25-year-old, disappeared from his home at around 10:05 pm while nobody else was home. It is believed that he was taken by the same person as the other three men." The news reporter gives a short report before it heads to commercial.

I walk into the kitchen and grab my pink bowl label 9:30 am and heat it up.

I enjoy it because this is the last of this I will be getting for a long time.

*11 hours later*

I have to eat dinner in 30 minutes but while I wait I watch the news.

"Breaking news." the same reporter pops up on the screen, "The bodies of the four men have been found. There are rumors that all of the men were missing all of their fingers and toes. However, police have yet to confirm or deny the rumors. We will keep you updated as we know more. Back to you Phil." Phil continues to show the weather forecast for the rest of the week.

However, I smile to myself as I realize that's what he fed me this time.

I look at the clock and see that it is 9:28 pm which means it's time to heat up my food.

I pick up the blue bowl only counter and heat it up.

While I eat I think about all of the other things he fed me.

The first time I was 10 years old, he fed me the hearts and the livers.

The second time I was 20 years old, he fed me the lungs.

This time I am 30 years old, and now he fed me the fingers and toes.

I can honestly say it gets better every year. I can't wait until he visits again.