This short story was written New Year's day, 1998. No...this did not really happen...soft smile...tis merely the active, and most definately, "wishful" imagination of a frustrated writer. Things don't always happen as we imagine, but you have to admit...this would have been kind of neat, eh?

~The Phone Call~
Days had passed, but it seemed like years. I had been doing everything I could to keep myself busy, preoccupied. With each task that neared completion, I was already trying to think of another, so as to keep my mind off you. And yet, each time I passed by the phone...I pleaded with it to ring. "Just to hear that voice would be enough" I told myself. But it was in vain. It didn't ring. And deep down, I knew it wouldn't be enough. How I longed for the day when we could be together...look in each others eyes, touch each others skin. It was almost more than I could bare.

For months it had been a phone call here...a phone call there. Several times we had tried to make arrangements to meet one another...each time something happening at the last minute, preventing what we both felt was our destiny... each time, the disappointment ripping another little tear in my already fragile heart. And now I stood....looking at that little box, trying to decide if it was friend or foe. It was after all the only real link I had to you...the only way we could be together. And yet, that simple fact made it my mortal enemy, as if "it" were the reason we were so far apart.

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. I watched the old clock in the corner, thinking that I must be hallucinating...the hands didn't seem to be moving. It was as if all time was slowing down, just pushing me to see how much I could take.

I was so lost in my own resentment of that little black box, that I didn't even hear the first ring come out of it. By the time the sound registered in my brain, it had rung 3 times. QUICK! RUN! I had to get there before the answering machine picked up!

As I stammered out a hastened "hello", my mind was already racing ahead.... "We will talk...we will laugh...we will tell each other how much we miss each other...and then we will say goodbye." Again, so preoccupied in my own thoughts was I, that I barely heard your sweet hello. However, I was suddenly jogged back to the conversation at hand, by an unseeming amount of noise in the background. I suddenly realized that I could barely hear you. "Hello?" I said again, a bit louder. "What's going on? How come there's so much noise?" I asked. It seemed like it took an eternity for you to answer, and I could feel my chest starting to tighten as I awaited a reply.

"Honey?" you said. "I'm at the airport........waiting for you. Can you come pick me up?" I was stunned.... speechless... breathless... surely this must be a joke! "You are where?"...I asked unbelievingly. "I'm at the airport. My flight just arrived, and I am waiting to be with you", you said softly. My mind was racing, my heart pounding. I had almost missed this call as I had been so wrapped up in my own frustration. And now, here you were... just minutes away! "Tell me where you are...I will be there in a heartbeat" I said.

I took down the information, grabbed my keys, and darted out the door. I don't remember most of the drive to the airport. I only remember thinking to myself that that phone call I had come to dread, as much as look forward to, now seemed to be the most amazing miracle I had ever received.

In just a matter of minutes, I pulled up in front of the terminal, and there you were....standing with one small bag...smiling. I raced out of the car, took you in my arms and held you...never wanting to let go. For what seemed like eternity we just stood there...clinging to each other...basking in that first real moment of truth. Finally, I reluctantly let go of you, took your bag, and threw it in the trunk.

Once we were both tucked in the car, and preparing to leave the airport, you started to giggle. I asked what was so funny? With a big grin, you turned and said, "Well...I almost didn't call. I know how much you've dreaded our recent phone calls, so I was just gonna call a cab and show up at your door!" Suddenly, I found myself laughing my way to tears. Smiling at your sweet loving face, I replied, "Darlin...I'm glad you called. I'll never dread another phone call again!"

And with that, we drove off toward "home."

copyright Š1998 Bonnie S. Pease

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