ahhh thats poisonit made him ill unnerved him shook him
but he wasnt gonna stop hed
dialed these numbers for yearscommitted them to memory whawas he supposed to do burn em out frontal lobotomy he couldnt dispatch them his fingers naturally ran their course
fingerpounded the numbers absently without thought reflexes
one by one they didnt answer the telephone anymore
first one
then the other
then the others
and those others one at a time
too
The
number you have dialed it not a working number. Check the number and dial again.
the telephone company bing bing bing the message it didnt dissuade him the message was an affirmation an oral gravestone he called to remind himself because all
these many years later they had become fixtures in his life
then they were unfixed
no ones dead until no one talks
about them or calls their disconnected number and when the number is reupped and
someone else answers he asked for them
You got
the wrong number, buddy.
No Actually You got the wrong number And as
long as you have it youll have to tolerate me It was theirs longer than itll be yours
few endured
and then as it would be the
case they didnt answer either their
messages he knew rote then those quit
The number you have dialed it not a working
number. Check the number and dial again.
he supposed that would happen as
long as telephones were around and ghosts called them
1358, Day-between-Two-Ts, 22 8.
18