555-

A ring.
I wait.
Once more.
I answer.
Hello?

I am bombarded with an unending onslaught of over-the-top pleasantries and platitudes.

I try to speak
Well—

I am ignored and hit by a sea of questions—
not rhetorical, but no answer can creep in
past the tidal wave that is the monologue
battering my ear across the phone line.

A pause.

Drat! I wasn't listening!

Um...

Silence... What, now I need to talk?

I dunno—

I snap the phone shut before I hear an answer.
Peace.
I relax.







A ring.