Telephone Line

'The following pasta was inspired by the blog, "Writing Pastas With Song Titles". This pasta is based on the Electric Light Orchestra song, "Telephone Line".'

Nicholas was about to make a call, and he was running out of time.

As he sat there, next to the telephone, he noticed his growing fear for what would happen if he picked the phone up and called his fiancé. He needed to do it, but he wanted to put it off for as long as he could. He couldn’t run from it, as he was tied to his own chair. This would be the last phone call he would ever make.

The man in the long black coat and the man in the brown suit beside him were getting impatient. They had their guns pointed on Nicholas, waiting for him to call. With one simple pull of the trigger, either one of the men could have shot him right there and then and the ordeal would be over.

Nicholas had been in debt to their group for a year, so the men had come to give Nicholas his proper punishment on this black night. However, Nicholas had pleaded with the men to let him make one final call to his fiancé before his death. The men, finding the slightest bit of sympathy, had agreed.

Nicholas had been stalling for the past minute, just praying that somebody would notice or that somebody would come by to see him. Nicholas fate was imminent, and he knew that he would surely die after only a few words with his wife. He wanted to call the police or anybody who could help him, but the men were watching him, making sure he didn’t dial anybody but his fiancé. If he did, the men had agents all over the globe, and, if the men gave the word, these agents would kill every member of his family, including his fiancé.

Therefore, Nicholas sat in silence, contemplating his decision. He thought about how he would talk to his fiancé, how he would have to answer the phone and pretend everything was fine.

He imagined answering the phone, trying to stay as calm as possible and saying,

“Hello… how are you? Have you been alright?”

Nicholas wanted to tell her everything, every single detail about the men and his debt, but he knew that he couldn’t. Nicholas thought of all the things, even all the little things, she had planned for them to do once they were married. He wanted all of these idea to be real, not just a dream. However, he knew deep down that these plans would never come true.

“Time’s up,” the man in the brown coat muttered to Nicholas, keeping his gun aimed on his head.

Nicholas took a deep breath and picked up the phone. He slowly dialed his fiancé’s number. He hit the final digit and moved his shaking hand to press the button labeled, “Call”.

He slowly put the phone up to his ear.

Nicholas wanted the phone to ring forever more, for the telephone line to simply give him some time to think once more.

Nicholas thought about his wife and his impossible situation. At this moment, he realized there was nothing he could do. He accepted his fate.

The telephone rang for just a little bit longer.