When a Stranger Calls...

It started out like a bad teen movie...it really did. Hubby was at work, and the rest of us were fast asleep after watching SyFy monster movies (albeit last night's was pretty stupid, but oh well). Actually, the kids were watching a different movie than I was, something on HBO about some disturbed teenager that goes around killing people. I could tell it was a creepy movie by the adrenaline in Tiffany's voice as she quickly described the "awesome" movie they were watching when she came downstairs to go to the bathroom. But, they refused to CHANGE THE CHANNEL. So there they sat, getting freaked out before going to bed.

Even before the stupid movie ended, I had struggled to stay awake, at least to watch the ending of the movie. But the Sand Man had other plans for me, and I drifted off while enjoying the huge waterbed all to myself. I was actually in the middle of a good dream, I can recall it having something to do with winning the lottery and being photographed holding that huge check with a big smile on my face... Before I had a chance to continue the dream and spend that lottery money, I could hear a phone ringing in the distance. My cell phone had been taken by hubby who needed it for work... so I guessed correctly when I figured out that it was the house cordless phone that the kids had taken upstairs earlier.

The phone rang and rang, and I wondered who was calling. I strained my neck to check out the time on the clock sitting on my headboard and it was shortly before midnight... I'd probably been asleep a little under an hour. I thought it might have been my husband, or my mother, but usually they wouldn't call unless it was an emergency...it WAS late, after all. Then I thought perhaps it was Tiffany's mom, calling because she'd had too many beers and wanted to talk. But I figured since she'd been drinking all day, she was probably passed out by that time. Or it could have been some lonely person, their mind riddled with drugs and alcohol hoping for a late night booty call.

I heard my son sleepily say into the phone: "Hello..." and then silence. He then threw the phone at his girlfriend Tiffany who yelled at him to "Watch it!" and after listening a few minutes herself began asking who it was, what did they want, etc... By then, I was wide awake and in mom alert mode. As I was heading towards the bedroom door Tiffany came running downstairs with my son holding the baby close behind her. By then, they'd become loud and excited...and very scared. I asked them what had happened and they told me that some woman had called screaming bloody murder. Literally. She said there was so much blood, and it hurt, and to please HELP her. The kids tried to get her name and address but to no avail. After screaming for a bit more and realizing that she had the wrong number she hung up. The kids came running downstairs completely freaked out. They thought she was being murdered. Or worse. Was hiding from a killer in a closet. Or was in labor. Calmly, I told Tiffany to dial *69 and she did, getting the phone number. She then tried to call back, and there was no answer.

My son was trembling and proceeded to lock all the doors in the house AND turn the lights on. There was no way he was going to sleep with the lights off. I just knew it would be a long night... Tiffany called the police dept. and told them of the call, giving them the number we'd traced by *69. They told her they'd send someone out to check on it... my son was convinced we'd see a murder in the newspaper today, and that he'd received the call from the person being murdered asking for help.

Hubby came home around three am. To a house full of lights, the TV on, and me semi-awake after just telling the kids to go back upstairs and go to bed. No, they could NOT sleep with me. Even if my bed was comfortable. I sleepily explained to hubby what had happened and fell asleep almost immediately. So did the kids...

This morning Demetrio was up bright and early checking the internet and newspaper. Nothing. He told Tiffany to call the number this morning to see what happened. And she did. And she said a man answered. She didn't say anything, just listened for a moment and then hung up. And then told me that he sounded like he was extremely hung over.

I still wonder what happened-if she was drunk, on drugs, had cut herself, etc... We will probably never know. But at least we tried, and I was impressed that the kids thought enough to call the police dept. thinking someone was in trouble. Even if it was a false alarm, the next time it happens it might not be. In the meantime, I will be keeping the phone downstairs with me...and hoping it doesn't ring again in the middle of the night anytime soon.