The Telephone Booth – Part 2
An hour had passed since the eerie incident, but Nayani could not step out of the telephone booth. She sat on the booth’s floor, her head buried in her palms. Even after much thinking, she could find no plausible reason for the incident. How could she speak to Mayank of the past? Mayank of 2007?
After much pontification, she stood up and decided to experiment again. She picked up the receiver, dropped a coin, and dialled her mother’s number. But there was no dial tone after that. Furthermore, the payphone returned her coin. She tried this a few more times. Then, she dialled one of her friends’ number and met with the same phenomenon.
An idea suddenly struck her. She dialled the landline number which her family had used in 2007. To her horror, she heard the dial tone. Tin tin tin tin…
Her heart thudded mercilessly against her ribcage, as she heard the rings. The call was picked up.
“Hello!”
It was Nayani’s father, who had passed away in 2013. She was overcome with emotions, as she heard his voice, six years after his death.
“Pa?”
“Nayani? Where are you?”
“I am at Shilpa’s house,” she replied, as she suddenly remembered that she was always at Shilpa’s house in the evenings of August 2007.
“Okay, but this is not Shilpa’s landline number. Where are you calling from?”
“Shilpa’s landline has malfunctioned, Pa. So, I came to the telephone booth to call you.”
“Oh! That’s okay. But why did you call me?”
“Just to tell you that I’d be late today. I’ll reach home by 9 PM.”
“Okay, dear. Take care. Be safe while cycling back.”
“Okay, Pa. I love you.”
“Huh? What is this? You are speaking so strangely.”
“Pa, I just said I love you. Nothing strange in it.”
“Ah, I love you too, Nayani. Don’t know what has come over my dear daughter. Come home soon.”
With that, he hung up. And suddenly, Nayani remembered that day. After she had reached home earlier than 9 PM, her dad had questioned her about the strange call. She had been surprised. Then, she had told him that it must have been a prank call made by her enemy, Shruthi. Her dad had been convinced successfully.
Tears streamed down Nayani’s eyes, as she realized the telephone booth’s superpower. It was a different time-portal which allowed people to make calls to their past, to the exact date and time as the present. She also figured out that the payphone connected her to 2007, and not to other years, because that year was the last time she had used the telephone booth.
*****
Nayani was down with a bad flu, as a result of getting drenched in the rain. Mridula heeded to her needs and took care of her. She was also worried about her daughter’s sudden silence. She wasn’t talking properly. But one thing was clear, whatever unfinished business she had had was not still finished.
“Nayani, I’ve made pancakes for you,” she said, placing a plate of blueberry pancakes with dollops of chocolate sauce and honey oozing at their sides.
“Ah! That’s the best ever remedy for what I am going through,” replied Nayani, her mouth watering at the sight of the delicious pancakes.
“You can share with me whatever that’s troubling you. You must know that I’m always here for you.” Mridula placed her right palm atop Nayani’s entwined hands.
“Nothing, Ma. I’ll get over it. Vishnu is coming today. He’ll visit us in the evening.”
“Oh, then you must be happy!”
“Of course, I should be. And, I will.”
“Any idea of getting married this year?”
“Not yet, Ma. Let us enjoy our freedom for a few more years. With marriage comes greater responsibilities, which we aren’t ready to take up now.”
“That’s true. Okay, you have your pancakes and rest for some time.”
“No, Ma. After having my breakfast, I’ll just take a walk around the neighbourhood. Maybe I’ll feel better.”
“All right.”
Mridula left the room. Nayani’s eyes wandered over to the landline phone placed at the corner of the room. She wondered whether all the telephones connected to the past or whether only that particular payphone did that. And, she also wanted to know the mechanism behind it, the science behind her strange experience. However, she felt that some things are better left unexplained. Maybe, this was another mystery of the universe.
*****
Nayani’s hands shivered as she dropped a coin into the payphone’s slit and dialled Mayank’s old number. She decided that if the payphone connected to her past, then she would give the past Mayank a piece of her mind and ask him to eff off. It was because of him that her mental health weakened and she was almost driven to kill herself.
As years passed and maturity came over her, she realized that she had been a fool to believe something as love, when it was just a huge standup comedy show. Too many times, she regretted her past self’s low self-esteem and her inability to move on. Now was the time to give it back to the boy who never deserved her.
Mayank picked up the phone on the seventh ring.
“Hello!”
“Hello, Mayank. I am Nayani.”
“Now, what do you want? You just spoke yesterday. And, you mysteriously cut the call. Why have you called now?”
“Just to tell you to eff off.”
“Means? What’s meant by ‘eff off’?”
“Oh! You don’t know modern jargon, right? I meant to tell you that you’re a heartless creature. You are a loser, Mayank.”
“Nayani! What are you talking about?”
“Listen! Don’t you dare raise your voice against mine. You don’t deserve me. You just don’t deserve me. Okay? It’s not the other way around.”
“Nayani, can you just-”
“YOU ARE A LOSER! And losers don’t deserve girls like me. Thank God, I didn’t end up with you. You are a shitbag. And you’re going to lose everything in your life. Mark my words. These are not just words coming out of a hopeless romantic teenager’s mouth. Never ever speak to me. And, don’t ever question me about this incident. I’ll go to the extent of pressing charges against you. Understood?”
There was only silence at the other end. Nayani dropped another one-rupee coin as the silence extended. After a minute, Mayank heaved a huge sigh and replied, “Nayani, you are mad.”
“Yes, I am. And, goodbye.”
She hung up and burst into tears. She felt so light that she could grow wings and fly in the sky.
After a few minutes, she wiped her cheeks and proceeded to conduct another experiment which was on her mind. She walked to the next street, which housed her high-school classmate Monika’s bungalow. Monika was the daughter of a wealthy businessman. She was also famous in school, though she never boasted about it. She was humble and mingled with all classmates, unlike other rich students who had separate cliques.
Nayani reached Monika’s bungalow, requested the security guard to inform her about her arrival, and waited to be called in. A minute later, Monika herself came down and invited her in. After the initial pleasantries, Monika began in her sultry voice, “I was intrigued by your message. So, you want me to take part in an experiment?”
“Yes, Monika. But you shouldn’t ask any questions about it. Just a small experiment.”
“Okay, I am game for it. Where are we going to conduct it?”
“In the telephone booth in the next street.”
“What? In that telephone booth? But it’s been abandoned for so many years. Why on earth are you conducting your experiment in that place?”
“Because, my experiment involves the payphone inside that telephone booth. And, Monika, please, no more questions. I cannot explain certain things.”
“Okay, okay, cool. Can we go now? We can return here, have some smoothies, and catch up. It’s been a long time.”
“Not today, Monika. I am having a bad cold. Sometime later.”
“Fine then, let’s go.”
The duo reached the telephone booth. Monika’s eyebrows drew together in trepidation, as she looked around the abandoned booth. Nayani asked her, “Do you know any old mobile number or landline number that’s not in use now? I mean, do you know it by heart?”
“Yes, I know. My childhood friend’s.”
“Was the mobile number used before 2010? That was the last year this booth was in use.”
“Yeah, it was.”
“Okay, let me do something.”
Nayani lifted the receiver, dropped the coin, and asked Monika to type that number. Though Monika panicked at the sight of the green light on the display pane, she proceeded to type the number. But Nayani couldn’t listen to any dial tone. A moment later, the payphone returned the coin. She was intrigued.
“Wait, have you ever used a payphone?”
“No, I haven’t. Not this payphone, not any payphone. I owned a mobile phone during our school days. Don’t you remember?”
This was another discovery for the already flabbergasted Nayani. The telephone booth worked its magic only on those who had used it.
To be continued…
