Wailing

Written 56-M18 [2025-07-09], Edited 56-M18 [2025-07-09]

Image credit: Twitter Twemoji

The phone called rang in the middle of the meeting.

“Sorry, let me see what this is,” I told the rest of the team. I picked up my phone and walked out of the conference room.

I answered the call. It was from an unknown number. A spammer maybe?

“Hello, who is this?” I asked.

The only sounds from the phone were bone-splitting wails and tortured screams. I tried to end the call but the phone screen seemed frozen. The sounds coming out of the phone were louder than anything that ever came out the speakers.

One of my colleagues opened the conference room door. “Hey, what’s going on?” he asked but I could barely hear him. After a single second his face twisted in horror and he closed the door again.

I ran to the bathroom, threw the phone into the sink and filled it with water. The wailing didn’t cease.

Feedback from The Joy of Writing group

• The phone rang in the middle of the meeting, not called
• channeling the guy in the bathroom
  • there was a guy in the bathroom playing loud music that day
• there is a twilight zone episode with a ringing phone

Notes

This was written in 10 minutes during a Joy of Writing meetup.