Suzie’s House 404 : Clear Blue Sky II

Ethan Zempel couldn’t find a pay phone anywhere. What had the world come to when you couldn’t even call home for want of a simply phone. Not that he was sure the change in his pocket would be enough, even if he could find such a rare beast as a pay phone in the wilds of Kentucky.

He glanced up at a glorious, clear blue sky, and thought that somewhere else under that sky he could find the shredded remains of his family, if he could but find a way to contact them. He missed a step on the uneven sidewalk and almost stumbled into a young woman coming from the opposite direction.

“Excuse me, miss. Do you know where I might find a pay phone?”

“A what?” The young woman could hardly be much older than his own daughter. She looked at him as though he had grown a second head.

“I need to make a phone call.”

“Well, as long as it’s a short one, you can use mine.” She offered up a cell phone.

Of course! A cell phone. He should have purchased one when his credit card was still accepted.

“Yes. Thank you very much.” He took the offered cell phone with care, then dialed his home number.

“Hello?” After all these weeks, Emma’s voice was very welcome.

“Emma? This… this is your father.”

“Oh.” The silence stretched while his kind benefactor stared at him.

“Can… can I talk to your mother?”

“I… Um… I’ll see if she’s here.” There was a thunk, and the hollow sound of bare feet walking away on linoleum, then “Mooooom! Telephone.”

Ethan held the phone away from his ear for a minute. This was not the kind of behavior he expected from his sweet daughter. Luckily, a second later, the extension picked up.

“Hello?”

“H-hello, Dear. It’s me. Ethan.”

“Ethan! Where have you been? Do you realize how long you’ve been gone?” Sophie didn’t sound anything the way he’d expected. She sounded bitter.

“I’ve been… visiting graves. Apparently everyone I thought I could rely on has died.”

“Huh. Well, we already knew your parents were dead. Who else did you expect to go to? An old girlfriend, maybe?” The note of bitterness reached new heights.

“No! No, it’s nothing like that. I just… needed to get my head straight.”

“And now it’s straight?”

“I… yes… I think it is.”

“Good. Catch the first plane home. We have things to talk about.”

“B-but Honey, I can’t pay for the ticket. I’m out of money.”

“Now you know how I feel,” Sophie said with a thick trace of anger in her voice. “You’ll have to get yourself home, but we’ll keep the light on for you.” And she hung up.

With a sense of foreboding, Ethan handed the borrowed phone back to the only one who had been nice to him all week.

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