Fiction Fragment Friday
Yes this weeks story comes from me waking up tired and frustrated. Too often lately I have dreamed about work instead of anything more fantastical. I feel for my main character.
I woke up tired and frustrated. When dreaming, my subconscious mind has the freedom to go, see, or do anything. I will never understand why then it chooses to have me sitting at a desk configuring software. I work when I’m awake; I would much rather have wild escapes from reality when I sleep. As many times as I wake up during the night, there are plenty of opportunities for other dreams, but no, each time I seem to return to the same dream where I had left off. It is infuriating.
It was likely that frustration that led me to answer my phone for an unknown number. Deep down, I just wanted to lash out at someone or something, and a spam phone call seemed like the perfect outlet.
“Hello?” I answered.
“You have not yet completed the assignment.”
The voice had a reverberation to it. Not an echo, but a hollowness. I had planned to listen to their spiel and then rip into whoever was on the other end. The moment I heard that voice, though, my entire game plan went out the window. I hadn’t even fully processed his words before responding.
“Who the hell is this?”
“You will complete the assignment.”
I felt a flush of heat, my heart started racing, and it felt like the world was closing in around me. All from just a few words. The phone shook in my hand. I wanted to drop it, but my hand just gripped tighter. I opened my mouth to scream. No sound came out. It was the single most terrifying moment in my life to that point, despite just standing in my bedroom.
I woke up on the floor of my bedroom, exhausted and sore. It didn’t feel like I had gotten any sleep at all, but I knew I had to have because I remembered having the dream again. A dream of being at work. At least I had finished the project, so maybe my subconscious would let me move on to more interesting dreams.
My phone was lying on the floor a few feet away from me. I reached out for it and winced at the shoulder pain. After unlocking the screen, I was surprised to see that the phone app was open. I never use my phone as an actual phone. The battery was also much lower than I would have expected. I idly opened the call history.
“What the…” There was a fifteen minute call from an unknown number earlier that morning.
The phone suddenly rang, startling me so much I fumbled it in the air. I barely caught it. For a moment, I just sat there on the floor looking at the ringing phone displaying the same unknown number. Curiosity got the better of me, so I hit the button to answer.
“Hello?”
“Well done. The master is pleased.”
The voice had a hollow reverberation to it that sent shivers down my spine. The call ended with nothing further said.
I sat there, just staring at the phone for a few minutes.
“Nope.”
I texted work that I was going to be out sick, put my phone on the charger across the room, and crawled into bed. I slept for the rest of the morning, and if I had any dreams, I don’t remember them. I woke up more rested than I had been in months.