“Hello?” Karen said when she answered the ringing telephone.
“Hello…” A male voice said.
“Who is this?” Karen asked as she sipped orange juice from a mug. She was all set for her nightly ritual with her favorite book in her favorite spot.
“Erm... I don't really know how to introduce myself.” The caller said with caution.
“Who are you trying to reach?”
“You, I...uhh... would like to talk to you.” He said.
“Okay, do I know you?" Karen asked.
"Kind of." He said.
"We have met before. Several times even." He continued.
"Is that so?" Karen said with sarcasm.
“I didn't mean to bother you.” He apologized.
“You are forgiven. Bye now.”
“No, don’t hang up yet.” He pleaded
“Why not.”
“Because I’d like to keep talking to you.” He pleaded.
“I don’t normally talk to strangers…” Karen began.
“I am not a stranger, we have met before. At the mall."
“Is that so?” Karen asked.
“We also go to the same coffee shop” He continued.
“Okay, I don’t exactly remember.” Karen said thoughtfully.
“You don’t?”
“I am the guy you bumped into in the parking lot the other day." He explained.
“Oh! The guy I spilled hot coffee on?" Karen remembered.
"Yes, that's me." He affirmed.
"I am so sorry, I wasn't paying attention." Karen apologized once again.
"It's okay, you are forgiven." He laughed.
"How did you get my number?" She asked.
"Uhh, Leila at the coffee shop. She convinced me to call you." He confessed.
"Oh." Karen said.
"Please don't be mad. If you want I could hang up." He apologized.
“Tell me your name.” Karen said.
“Jason.” Jason replied.
“My name is Karen, nice to meet you.”
“Hi Karen, it's really nice to meet you.”
“What are you up to?” Karen asked.
“Counting my blessings." Jason said.
“I finally got to talk to you. It's a blessing." Jason said with a smile
Karen giggled.
"That's really sweet." She said.
He laughed. His laugh was warm and comforting and she liked it.
“Not to come off on the wrong foot or anything Karen, but I gotta ask.” He asked.
“Go on."
“Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked with caution.
“No I don't .” Karen smiled and picked up her book.
“Do you mind if I ask you out to coffee tomorrow?" He asked.
Karen smiled.
“No I don't mind." She answered.
"Noon?" He asked.
“Noon is perfect." Karen replied.
“I guess it is goodnight. I don't wanna keep you."
"Goodnight Karen."
“Goodnight Jason."
“Hmm-mm, I will see you tomorrow." He said
“Can't wait.” Karen said.
“Goodnight." Jason said again.
"Goodnight." They both laughed.
Karen hung up with a smile on her face and butterflies in her belly, because it turns out she also noticed Jason at the coffee shop. Fate at work maybe.
She thought.
She stood staring out the window, the cool night breeze wafted in carrying the sweet smell of flowers from her neighbour's garden and the light of the moon gave the night a beautiful glow.
The sky is so beautiful.
Karen thought with a smile on her face.
The End.
This story is inspired by this week's fiction prompt "By The Light Of Moon".
Thank you for reading.
An interesting read, Scary but very interesting.
Thank you for reading.
Ooh, I enjoyed reading this story, it kept me at alert the whole time. What a weirdo. I really want to know who he is and how he can see her
Have some !PIZZA as bribe
Thank you for reading and also for the pizza. LOL.
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This would make a great beginning to a psychological thriller movie, @stellageorge. I like the strong female character, and how she stands up for herself. I thought the dialog was very realistic. The other thing I found fascinating about it was how she really wants to cut him off, but some part of her is intrigued and drawn in by this random caller. Unfortunately, that is probably very realistic in terms of how predators earn women's trust. So, it's quite well done.
That said, I will add that this story is a matter of debate among our admin team in The Ink Well. I thought I would go ahead and share this information with you to provide insight on where The Ink Well draws the line in terms of content around abuse of women (as described in our community rules).
We don't allow content in the community that in any way portrays abuse or brutality. Typically the stories that we have to boot out of the community portray actual violence, and include everything from rape and torture to murder. For some reason, these kinds of stories appear almost daily in our community and are muted as quickly as possible.
Your story is about the victimization of a woman; while the violence is not portrayed, there is a strong sense at the end that he is coming for her.. and it's going to end very badly. Some of our admins therefore believe this puts the story in a similar category as the ones we have to mute.
So, to wrap up this long comment, I will share what we ask of everyone who posts stories that victimize women, children, pets and other innocents: Please avoid these topics. There are SO many other things to write about. Over time, we have put together lists of 150 story ideas to inspire our writing community. This effort came out of our long-standing goal to divert writers away from themes around violence, abuse, rape and victimization of women:
Your writing and story telling style are very good. I hope these topic lists provide inspiration! Keep writing!
Oh. I didn't notice but I'd do well not to repeat such. Thank you for reading.
@jayna, I took your advice and changed the theme of the story, I hope this is acceptable. Thank you once again for calling me out on this. I will strive to be a better writer.
@stellageorge, you did a wonderful job with your edits. Thank you for doing that! I want to reiterate that I really loved your story before. But we are trying to maintain our rules across the platform. Thank you so much for listening and responding. Your revised story is great!
Thank you very much for reading. ☺️
Your content has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
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