Continued…

The cold air landed on me, forming a tsumani of chills washing over my bare skin. My feet weren’t impacted by the cold until I hit the ceramic floor in the hallway.

Damn. I really should have put a phone in my bedroom. Actually, there’s a lot of things that I should have done.

I didn’t need to open the blinds to know the outside world had started its morning wearing a morose shade of grey—cold and damp, with a slight whirling of snow.

By the time I’d heard the third ring, I decided to go back to bed without picking up the phone. I’m not a rude person, but in the past week, I’d gotten so many bogus calls, my frustration barometer had blown past the limit of what is reasonable.

Rubbing my arms, trying to get warm, I said out loud, as if the caller could hear me, “I’m not going to buy what you’re selling, so stop calling me. I dare you to leave me a message.”

I had just flipped the blankets back over my legs when I heard a voice talking to my answering machine. “Hello? Aunt Teresa, are you there?”

Let’s be clear. ‘Teresa’ is not my name, nor am I an aunt to anyone.

The voice continued. “I don’t know what to do. I’m at Grandma’s. Something’s wrong. I wanted to surprise her with breakfast in bed, only I can’t wake her up.”

I knew what that meant. I also knew how this young girl felt. The cold didn’t seem to touch me as I bolted from the bed, back to the phone in the living room. I inhaled a deep, steadying breath and said, “It’s okay. You’re not alone. Talk to me.”