Landline Novels & Stories

"Oh, honey dear. If thirty years of marriage hasn't caused that, you sure won't. Here's the phone." She handed me a standard black cordless phone and waddled off to help some of the customers that had been sitting there riveted to the show we had put on. My lips twisted in chagrin, but I could have danced a jig as I held the phone in my hands. I looked down at the buttons and groaned audibly. I could not remember Lori's number if someone had held a gun to my head at that moment. Did the 3 come before the 4? Or was it the other way around? Wasn't there a 5 in it somewhere?

I echoed, nodding fervently. “You’ll get a landline first,” he said firmly, turning to leave. “Nooo!” I groaned, dragging the sound out as if that would change his mind. But he kept walking, leaving me with nothing but hope that he might reconsider. --- Later, I was leaning over the kitchen counter, half-distracted with sketching, when Enzo’s voice cut through my thoughts. “Ma’am, the boss had this delivered for you,” he said, setting down a sleek, modern landline phone.

And that’s when I saw it. Sitting on a small dresser near the bed: a landline phone. Black, old, with a rotary dial. My heart raced. My legs buckled, but I walked towards it. I grabbed it, as if it were the last buoy before drowning. My fingers trembled. I still remembered the number by heart. How could I forget? I had dialed it my whole life. 0-2-2… 91… 38… 06. One beep. Two. Three.

Seventy-something year old attorney, Jackson Milton, was roused out of his sleep by the phone ringing at his bedside. He opened his eyes to see his alarm clock said five-o-nine in the morning. He cleared his throat and reached for his phone. He had a regular landline. His cell phone was in the other room. Jackson hated that thing and avoided using it as much as possible. Being as old as he was, he didn’t grow up in the age of technology. When he knew he was going to be home, he had the calls from his cell forwarded to his landline.

Goddess, it can’t be…. “L..Landon?! Is that you?” I hold my breath, waiting for a reply. I’ve been trying to talk to my boys for months now, and I’ve been denied each time. If this is truly Landon on the phone, I don’t think I could be much happier unless it were Lincoln as well. “Yeah, it’s me. You could always tell us apart.” “Of course I can. I’m your mother, after all.” There is a thick silence on the phone, but it isn’t surprising.

"Cassian, tell me you can block it!" "I can't!" Cassian’s voice was pure static, laced with rising panic. "The signal isn't going through the airwaves or the harbor satellite! It's running through the old copper landlines buried six feet beneath the concrete floor of the terminal! It’s hardwired directly into the city's power grid!"

Elaine continued, “But the callback number left on the apartment phone does not match the main billing office line.” Leah went cold. Daniel’s expression hardened. Elaine looked down at the tablet. “It routes through an internal extension. Not public. Could be legitimate. Could be selected deliberately to bypass the main desk.” Daniel’s voice was low. “Can we verify without calling it?” “I can try through the directory map. It may take time.” “Do it.” Elaine nodded. Then she hesitated. “There is something else.” Leah braced herself. Elaine looked at Daniel first. Then, carefully, at Leah.