Ring Ring

Markus Rogenforg fell to his knees in the middle of his small, fenced, backyard. He covered his face with his hands, struggling to restrain the tears that battled fiercely to escape. It was 3:00 pm a fact that could be discovered by looking at the house phone lying on the ground near Markus. It was slightly buried, suggesting that it had been thrown from the back door of the quaint two story home. The sky above was slightly cloudy, yet the sun was hidden. It was in fact a rather nice day. However, despite the occasional passing car it was silent, there were no signs of any life. It was as though Marcus was a castaway on an island void of all other inhabitants. For the first time in his life Markus felt completely alone. Everything that he knew was gone. His life was gone. His family was gone.

     He looked through his blurry tear filled eyes down at the phone. The sound of Emily's father still rang in his ear.

     "Hello, who is this?" A deep voice asked through the speaker.

 

    "Hey, this is your son-in-law Markus. I was just 

call""

     "Son-in-law? Have you lost your mind, I think you have the wrong number."

     "Wait, no!" Markus yelled desperate to figure out what was going on. "I'm Markus, I married your daughter Emily 7 years ago. I'm the father of your two grandchildren."

     "Sir, you have the wrong number. We dont have a daughter.."

     "What. . . That doesn't make any sense. We were just over last week for dinner. You have to remember. . . This cant be right. . ." Markus's voice cracked as he tried to stay under control. "Markus Rogenforg. . . You have to remember me."

     "Look, whatever your expecting me to remember I don't. So go have a mental breakdown on someone else's time." 

      "I'm not having a mental breakdown. . . At least I don't think so." Markus grew silent for a moment trying to decide if maybe he had gone mad. No he couldn't be, a man just doesn't spend his life with his wife and kids only to find out one day that he had just made it all up. There was something majorly wrong here. 

     "Ok here while you figure that out I am going to go on with my life." The phone cut off as he hung up. Markus stood for several minutes listening to static, the phone still held up to his face. The light above his head flickered and brought him back to his senses or at least what had left of them. He brought the phone down and stared at it blankly. We don't have a daughter. The words kept repeating themselves over and over in his head. He knew he wasn't mad. But then again does every mad man think himself to be sane? Although that's not really the point at the moment is it. The phone sounded loudly as Markus ended the call, the static stopped. The house was quiet, it seemed more a bone-house than a home. The plastic of the phone creaked under Markus's tight grip. He glanced down at it again before walking through the kitchen to the back door. The paint around the doorway was flaking, the glass of the door itself cloudy. It was something he hadn't really bothered to take the time to notice before. Markus slid open the door and looked out not truly seeing anything.

He jumped as the phone started to ring and slipped out of his hand. it clattered loudly against the tile floor. He scrambled to pick it up and just stared at the caller-id. It was Emily's cell phone. The ringing ceased, Markus answered. The only sound that filtered through was the dial-tone. There was no hint of her voice just the constant drone. The call ended abruptly, in frustration Markus threw the phone out into the yard. Then feeling like quite the fool went out to retrieve it. And now there he is laying face down in the middle of his yard wanting to die. He stayed there through the rest of the day, and on into the night. A crow landed next to him and started poking at him. Markus made no effort to stop it. He had given up. It cawed loudly at him repeatedly, then went to stabbing harshly at the back of his hand. Markus flinched yet endured it. He expected soon enough it would fly off again and that would be the end of it. His hand had started bleeding.

The crow hopped around till it was in front of his face. "Wake up," it croaked, "up, up, up!" Markus stared at it, dumbfounded. It continued chanting at him for several minutes.

"Leave me be," Markus said to the bird, "Your only a crow what superiority do you have over me? What enables you to command me so. You fly above the earth away from all the hardships. You've never experienced life as I have." The bird cocked its head listening and then continued its mantra.  

Author's Note

critiques welcome~