She Finally Told Me

895 words


“Hello and why are you bothering me at two am on a Wednesday? If it’s some silly BS birthday joke for me you’ll regret it when I torture you severely in my next story. I warn you, I have horrible, terrible, powers in my stories.”

“Ian, it’s Petra... Ian?... Ian?... are you there, Ian?”

“I don’t know who you are... yet, but I’m not going to wait for a story to hurt you.”

“No, Ian, it is me... you always thought you hid it from me, but I knew you bought two lockets. I still have mine. Remember the padlock we ...”

“Ohhh... my... god, we squeezed that plastic bubble stuff in it ... that was 60 years ago. Who the hell are you?... how did you know that?... what the hell is going on?...”

“It’s me, Ian. I need to warn you about ...”

“Warn me? What...”

“Your flight tomorrow, take the one Friday instead.”

“But, why would I listen to...”

“Because I love you. I knew it when we talked on our eighteenth birthday, I knew you loved me too, but family and life got in the way... cousins didn’t marry then... our family would have caused many problems.”

“But, you... SHE died last month and... the funeral... I need to...”

“I know, but do not get on that plane. Goodbye, Ian, I’ve loved you for 60 years, not saying yes is my only real regret. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I still love you, Ian.”

Wait... WAIT... I want to talk abou...”
~
“Aww, crap, the phone, I’m going to be late. CRAP! . . . dream . . . hurry . . . flight . . .damn . . . Hello?”

“Hi, Ian, it’s Sonia, calling to tell you we’ll meet you at Melbourne International. We got here last week. Damned airlines, with delays it was 23 hours from Brussels. What a horrible reason to be seeing you. ”

“Thank you. Sorry about the time. Gotta run for my flight, see you tomorrow. Love you, Sonia, bye.”

“Bye, Ian, see you then, love you too.”
~
“Crap! Crap! CRAP! This damned Los Angeles traffic, I can see the airport. I’m not going to make it.”

“DAMN IT ALL TO HELL... that’s probably my flight taking off. I’ll call Sonia from home and take the one tomorrow. . . . but . . . dream . . . can’t be . . .
~
“Hello?”

“Hi Sonia, it’s Ian, I missed my fligh...”

“WHAT? HOW... WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!”

“Dead? Why? I just missed the...”

“Because your flight crashed in the Pacific Ocean two hours after takeoff! Turn on the news.”

“Give me a second... there, ’United flight 1776 to Melbourne crashed killing all 192 passengers and crew. The FAA says the official investi...’ Jesus, Sonia, I would have been on it if...”

“What?”

“I’ll tell you tomorrow, right now I don’t . . . probably never . . . understand. Bye, love you“ . . . can’t be . . . ghosts don’t exist . . . but . . . phone . . .

“I still love you, Petra, more than I can express, if you hear this I bitterly regret not trying harder. I’ll be there Sunday wearing my locket. We could have made it work.”