No Time To Die

Sienna

My phone comes to life, startling me.

I catch my breath, put the sheet of paper down.

Taking my phone, I absently enter my password and look at all the missed calls.

I listen to the first from Deirdre telling me she'd work extra hours until I got back, then another from Jim at the garage telling me about a newer model Ford Escort that he just took in to sell and would I be interested? He says it's a good car without too many miles and makes a crack about my duct tape fender.

The next two are disconnects. Probably wrong numbers.

I think the one after those must be a wrong number too because it's silent at first but there's something different about this silence. It's not empty. I can hear whoever is on the line breathing.

And when the caller clicks his tongue, I feel myself go rigid, feel myself grow cold as every hair on my body stands on end.

How can a sound, the simple clicking of a tongue, have that kind of power over someone?

How can it just erase years?

Because it does jus