Number Phobia Novels & Stories

I grinned and hurried upstairs. As soon as I entered my room, I went straight for my purse to pull out the pregnancy report. But before I could do so, my phone rang. The number was unknown. My stomach tightened. The sight of it alone already made me uneasy. Memories rushed back of the mess I’d gone through the last time I picked up a call from an unknown number. My fingers trembled slightly as I hovered over the screen. Get over it already, I told myself firmly. Not every unknown number is trouble, you're just facing PTSD.

Fear of the truth. My phone buzzed again. Another text from the same unknown number:

She’s wearing earphones every time she leaves their house because she was diagnosed with Phonophobia when she was a child. Phonophobia is defined as a persistent, abnormal, and unwarranted fear of sound. Often, these are normal environmental sounds such as traffic, kitchen sounds, doors closing, gunshot, or even loud speech. It may be caused by genetic factors. People with a family history that includes anxiety disorders may be more prone to this condition. Phonophobia may also be caused by external factors, such as a history of long-term childhood trauma, or, a single traumatic incident. And that’s one of the things that makes them wonder because no one in their family has that kind of phob

Sit on a white chair and watch people vacation in an amusement park. Nova smiles to himself in the room. [Flashback on] "If you have a phobia, will you continue to avoid your panic phobia? As you said, disliking something will forever avoid it. So is a phobia, right?" Nova was silent, silent a thousand languages. Liana's words pierced his heart a little. Because Nova has a panic disorder resulting from anxiety, Nova doesn't like presenting in front of many people. The proof is he ran away from the meeting.

His face contoured with so much rage that I had not seen him express before. “What do you mean?” Phoebe asked, her voice low as she regarded the angry man beside her “Nathan has Alexithymia! Ever heard of that!” he yelled angrily.

Fear was making me forget things I was easily supposed to know. After calming down, I realized I didn't save his contact as Arthur, but as Mr grumpy. I was so glad I finally found the number, but just when I wanted to rejoice, I heard something that killed my joy instantly. “The number you're trying to call is currently not available, please leave a message.” I sighed, holding on to my chest in fear as I thought I was going to be stuck in this room, all alone. I was in a bored and the worst of them all was that there was nothing else I was with, except with my phone.

I chuckled. I hurried to answer the phone, realizing that it was still ringing in my hand. "Hi." I swallowed. Although he wasnt physically present, I had no idea why but I had a sense of fear. "No, no, everything is okay..." I began to pace back and forth, keeping one hand on my waist the while time. "I'm so sorry..." I turned to look at Chad, "I..." He had asked me why I didn't come by and I was short of words to say to him.

Sophia hesitated, biting her nails and clasping her hands together to stop them from trembling. There were times when Aiden and Adeline hid in corners of the house to play hide and seek. And even Sophia found it hard to seek them whenever they were hiding. She scrolled through her call log, unsure of whom to contact amidst her mounting fears. Her finger landed on a number, and she dialed it at random. Frustration welled up as she vigorously rubbed her forehead, attempting to banish the trauma and fear. The unanswered phone call became the focal point of her anxiety. With each ring, her tension only increased, and her fingers fumbled as she dialed the number again, and then again.

He accepted it and looked through it. Faith had highlighted a number on each page. It was the same number, “I checked through dad’s phone records as far as a few months before the incident,” She stiffly added, “He almost daily called this number,” She pointed her finger towards the document, “But whoever it was never answered. There is not one incoming call from this number but eighty-seven outgoing calls – not one of them was answered.” She said.

With the pets outside, Ava walks over and sits on the couch next to me. “You okay?” she asks, looking at me with concern in her eyes. “I will be,” I reply, looking down at the phone in my hands. I pull up the contacts and stare down at the screen. “What are you doing?” Ava asks, not taking her eyes off of me. “I’ve been told by every therapist I’ve seen that I need to delete the many numbers I have collected over the years. I was never able to do it. I’ve tried, but every time I get inside my own head and tell myself the worst possible thing would happen if I ever deleted even one number,” I explain, thinking about how stupid it sounds coming out of my mouth.