A DARK PIECE OF THE PAST

THIS IS MY EXAMPLE SHORT STORY.

THE CALL I'LL NEVER FORGET

The year 1991, a nice era. The day beautifully painted outside. It was a great neighborhood,  actually a new home to me. My parents decided to get a new home, cause the house before this was very very old old and so small and too many cats lol. How I remember those cats just was out of control, just "MULTIPLYING!"-Just keep in mind it started with one cat- Haha....We couldn't handle it anymore. So I'm glad we just left the house. It was around 1989 when we moved. It was the best trip adventure ever. A fresh new start elsewhere. It was my two twin sisters, (three years younger then I) and along with my parents. The previous house was just too small too with one room everything for a family of five. Yet thankful to be under a roof. It was a humble humble living but we lived happy there with a great wide playing field allowing us to truly feel our childhood.

A new home and new people waiting to see who we were, as with time we realized this place was also haunting. We had about two years in the home and strange things did happen, It was hard adjusting to this new home but at the same time exciting, as my sisters and I felt very happy cause we had better and bigger bedrooms. Just the home had "OTHERS" too. 

Time helped us get situated though but one day, I was caught alone at home, and I was in my parents bedroom. When suddenly the rotary phone, was looking more creepier than any day it has ever rang. Not even ghost lurking the home could compare to it. As the unexpected call was about to change my teen mind completely.

The insistent ring of the rotary phone sliced through the quiet of the empty house, a jarring, anachronistic sound. I lifted the heavy receiver, the plastic cool against my ear, and braced myself for the slow, clunky dial. "Hello?"
A man's Asian voice, thick with an unfamiliar accent, filled the line, distorted as if traveling through a long, dark tunnel. "Hello," he rasped. "There's a dog in my backyard. Is it yours?"
"No," I replied, my voice a nervous tremor. "I don't have a dog."
"Oh," he said, a strange, almost predatory drawl to his tone. "Well, if it's not yours, I'm gonna eash it....
"You gonna leash it?" I asked, confused, picturing the dog, leash in tow.
"No," he corrected, the word hanging in the air like a threat, amplified by the static. "I'm gonna eat it."
A wave of cold dread washed over me. "Eat it" I repeated, my voice barely a whisper. "Oh, sorry, I thought you said leash it." A nervous laugh escaped me, thin and brittle.
"It's alright," he said, the words strangely devoid of humor, the static crackling around his voice. "It's alright."
"Well," I stammered, trying to regain my composure, "you should probably see if it belongs to someone first."
"Yeah," he agreed, his voice low and menacing. "You're right. But if I don't... I'm gonna eat it.
"Eat it,"...  -The words catching in my throat felt very morbid.-
"Dog meat tastes good," he said, a disturbing satisfaction in his tone. (I honestly wasn't sure if this man was being serious, cause didn't seem like he was joking the way I remember it.)
"I... I bet it does," I managed, my hand tightening on the receiver, the coiled cord twisting around my fingers. Then so randomly he asked me the most disturbing thing of all, he asks me with high confidence say; "Do you want some?" ("I was frozen as I heard him say that." This is so strange I thought, like from a scary movie but I kept my calmness everytime".) I can bring you....he said excited..... (I was shocked, freaking out and react a little nervous) No its ok thank you... He says reassuring me, are you sure? I said, no you can enjoy it.... "But, yeah, you should wait to see if anyone claims it first." Then if no one claims it, then you can eat it... ( I didn't want to encourage him to wait and claim it but it's what I had in my young mind at the time and it was already so creepy as it is, this stranger that sounded Asian on the phone, talking to me about eating a dog!" Just imagine that?")
"Yeah," he repeated, the word a low growl, amplified by the static. "I will."
"Where's the dog?" I asked, my voice barely audible.
"In my backyard," he emphasized, the word "my" sending a shiver down my spine, the static popping and hissing around his word. "Just wanderin' around. But I want to eat it."
(The fact that he had dialed my number, on my rotary phone, made the situation even more disturbing. Who was this man, and why had he called me? But the real question is, how did he collect this number?") The house felt suddenly smaller, the walls closing in.
"Oh," -I managed, my mind racing.- "Well, hopefully, the owner shows up."
"Yeah," he sighed, a strange weariness in his voice. "Me too."
The silence stretched, thick and heavy, punctuated by the crackling static. Then, "Take care," he rasped, the voice fading into the hiss of the line.
"You too," I whispered, hanging up the receiver, my hand trembling. The weight of his words settled over me, a chilling premonition. He had called my house, on my phone, and the thought that he was so close, and so casually spoke of eating a dog, was terrifying. The rest of the evening was a blur of heightened senses, every creak of the house, every rustle of the wind, sounding like the approach of something sinister, something hungry.
The memory of that call, the man's accented voice, the chillingly casual mention of eating a dog, has stayed with me for decades. And to this day, I wonder if that poor lost dog ever found its way home, or if it became a meal for the strange man who called my house, on my rotary phone.

Wow Sappho, that is dark and scary, IDK what I would've done but I know being calm helps. It's hard being calm when you don't know the nature of a stranger and with a strange sketchy grin that you don't know the deep intention. It's scary and we can only use our intuitions to help guide us. Thanks for sharing Sappho. God is good and remember everything happens for a reason. :)