Who r u?

Instant communication is a wonderful thing. Usually.

When the first text message came it was lunch time and Sheila was walking back to the office, regretting the amount of pizza she had just eaten. The message was strange, but not really menacing. It read, “I know”. Sheila replied, “U know what?” A few seconds later came “I know” again. Sheila studied the cell phone number. She didn’t recognize it. “Who r u?” she texted. Sheila waited. And waited. No response. She tried again. “WHO R U???”

When a response finally came - “U don’t need 2 know”  - Sheila began getting angry. She put the phone back in her purse and started walking again, a bit faster now. The sidewalk was packed with people and the traffic noises were so loud that Sheila could barely hear the text alert beep from deep within her purse. She stopped walking, reached into her purse and pulled out the phone.

“I miss you” was the message.

She texted back, “Who misses me?”

“U still don’t need 2 know.”

Sheila’s response was short and to the point. “F U!”

“Sounds like fun. Don’t b mad.” Sheila shook her head in disgust and considered turning her phone off. “But do b afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

“U still don’t need 2 know.”

A chill started at the back of Sheila’s neck and spread throughout her body. She looked around at the strangers in the street. They were all isolated in their own personal worlds, bustling by, paying absolutely no attention to her. Sometimes she didn’t like big cities. Sometimes she longed for the small town where she grew up. The quiet boring town she always said she hated.

The phone beeped. “R u afraid yet?” It beeped again. “U should b.”

Her heart was beating rapidly and she was having trouble breathing. Calm down, she thought. It’s just some jerk with a cell phone and a sick sense of humor. He probably just dialed a number at random and it was my dumb luck that it was mine.

Another beep. “R u afraid?”

Sheila could feel a sense of panic taking hold of her entire body. Just turn off the damn phone and forget about it, she thought to herself.

“Please be afraid.”

“Why r u doing this?” The cell phone started beeping frantically as a series of texts started coming one right after the other.

“Fear is good.”

“Fear feeds my soul.”

“Please be afraid.”

“I need you to be afraid.”

“I’m tired of waiting!”

“I’m getting closer.”

“Very close now.”

“SO STOP WASTING MY TIME AND BE AFRAID!!!”

“RIGHT NOW!!!!!!”

A stranger saw the frightened look on her face and, hoping to help, walked up and tapped her on the shoulder. Sheila screamed and spun around. Her heel caught in a crack in the sidewalk and she lost her balance, falling off the curb.

The bus that hit her was going only about ten miles an hour, but that was enough. She was dead before her body hit the pavement. There were screams of shock all around from the people who had seen the accident. A crowd started forming around her broken body. Dozens of people took out their cell phones. They started taking pictures.

The man who had tapped her on the shoulder said, to no one in particular, “I was just trying to help her. She really didn’t look right.” He heard a cell phone beep. It was Sheila’s. He followed the sound, and saw it on the ground. He reached down and picked it up. There was a message.

“Just kidding. It’s Jake. Can’t wait to see you for dinner tonight. This is my new cell phone from the office. Don’t ask me why they changed the number but they did. Be sure to put it in your contact list. Hugs and kisses. ;)”

      

                                © 2016 Stanley R. Teater

                         All rights reserved

Reviews

[Kami]

Aaaaaahhhh the irony of it all!! I truly enjoy reading your stories- the twists, the turns....the buses...

Thanks so much for sharing!

[Valentine]

I do not text. Not because I can't but because I prefer one on one conversations. Most of my calls are long distance and I long to hear the voice of whom I call. Valentine

[Bex]

The perils of texting and walking simultaneously. I was a little sad at the end.

[Jenny Leigh]

Oh my God. I have actually gotten wrong texts. Creepy wrong texts. Stanley you made my worst fears reality up to the end. Loved it. That is some kind of weird joke my husband would do to me...just not as long as this lady's did to her. Thank God I don't live in a city where buses run.