A last Call

It was exactly 11.47PM
I remember because I was lying in bed, half-awake, phone in hand, scrolling through reels I didn’t even care about. Then, suddenly, a call came in Unknown number.

My first thought was to ignore it. Who even calls at this time? But something about it made me pause. I don’t know why — maybe instinct.
I picked it up.

“Please don’t hang up,” a boy’s voice said softly. “I just… I just needed someone to talk to before midnight.”

I didn’t say anything. Just listened.
He started talking. Slowly, gently. Nothing dramatic. Just… simple things. He told me how he liked the quiet of the night, how he missed the smell of rain, how he sometimes feels like he’s floating — not here, not gone.

His voice didn’t sound broken. Just alone.

We spoke for maybe 10 minutes. I said little, but it felt okay. Like I didn’t need to perform.
Then, just before midnight, he said,
“Thank you for picking up.”
And the line went dead.

The next night, same time.
The same number called again.
And I answered without hesitation.

“You again?” I asked, with a little smile.

“Yeah,” he said. “Still here.”

That night, we talked more. About silly things. Childhood memories. A movie he loved but wouldn’t admit to his friends. I laughed more than I thought I would at midnight.

But every time I asked his name, he would pause. Then say, “Some things are better left unnamed.”
And I let it go.

Nights passed like that.
Same time. Same voice.
Same strange comfort in someone I never met.

Until one night, he said,
“If I don’t call tomorrow… just know I really looked forward to 11:47. More than anything.”

I stayed up the next night.
Phone fully charged.
Eyes on the screen.

11:47 came. Then 11:48.
No call.

I never heard from him again.
No name. No goodbye.
Just the silence of a stranger who made the nights feel a little less heavy.

But even now, sometimes, at 11:47 PM…
I still wait.

                                             ~AISHMEEN