Dead Call

From: chris harvie (cadburysno_1fan@hotmail.com)
Story type: Ghost
Location: england
Source: Form Submission

About three months ago, my friend, Len died suddenly. It was a very difficult time and I spent most of it alone in my house. At the classic time, midnight, I noticed how cold the livingroom got, (although the heating was apparently working). Now this part you can decide for yourselves, if this was a prank call or this truly was, as I believe, a call from the other side. The phone (in the living room) rang, and the conversation went as follows... "hello."
"hello Chris"
"who is this?"
"You know me, it's Len...Len Stiles."
The reciever went dead cold in my hands. "Lennord Stiles died three months ago."
"Three months, two days, five hours, and 27 minutes ago, to be exact."
"I want to know who you are!"
A chuckle-the same dry chuckle I'd heard so many times. "Cmon old buddy-after 20 years, hell, you know me."
"This is a damn poor joke."
"Nojoke Chris. You're alive. And im here, dead. And you know something old buddy, I'm really glad I did it."
"Did...what?"
"killed myself. Because...death is just what I hoped it would be. Beautiful, grey...quiet...no pressures."
"The doctors said that it was just and accident in the home."
"No accident chris." the voice cold."I wanted to be dead, and no regrets" I tried to laugh and make light of this, matching his chuckle with my own.
"dead men don't use telephones"
"i not really using a phone, not in a physical sense. Its just i choose to contact you in this way. You might say its a matter of psychic electricity, simple really."
"sure. a snap. nothin to it."
"naturally your sceptical, i expected you to be.But...listen carefully..." I listened with the phone gripped in my hand, in the cold darkness of my house. As the voice told me only things len would know...intimate details about shared experiences extending back two decades.Once he had finished, i was certain of one thing it was len stiles.
"I don't believe in ghosts, i won't pretend to understand any of this... but I'll accept it."
"i'm glad chris, because it is important that we talk." The voice lower now and softer"I know how lousy things have been old buddy."
"what do you mean?"
"I know how things have been going for you, and i want to help. as your friend, i want you to know i understand."
"well i'm really not..."
"yor wife, your job, and theres jan."
"what about jan?"
"it doesn't matter, listen to me buddy things are gonna get worse.2 he then started to talk about middle age and how it was too late to make a new beginning. He spoke of disease, lonliness...of rejection and despairs. "theres only one soultion to these things chris-just one, that gun you keep in your desk up stairs. Use it chris use the gun."
"i couldn't do that."
"why not?we could be together, just like the old days...you won't be alone...use the gun chris.
and the line cut dead. as you can tell i didn't, but he was right my wife is fileing for a divorce, i've been made redundant adn jan is now dead. There have been times i have considered lens propersition, but i'm working through it.But sometimes i wonder if i fell asleep that night and dreamt it all.