Early Arrivals

            Everyone in the office looked stunned at the cellphone held out in Edith’s hand as if it had grown tentacles or some such craziness.  Aricka’s eyes flicked from the phone to Edith’s face and back again before she said, “Hello?”

            A quiet sob was heard coming from the phone as everyone listened. “Freddy! Frederick, you need to pick up your line now. You hear me. You need to hear this and you won’t say a word until it’s over.”