A short story written by Hanna
Topic: Long night
It is a usual Friday night but an unusual atmosphere fills the living room. He sits on the sofa, agitated. He is brown, a little gray on top, beetle-browed; a majestic figure.
It’s raining cats and dogs outside. Eleven o’clock, the black and white Persian cat keeps meowing and huddles aside his shank.
He opens the newspaper to the international page; a good-sized headline stands out, “An unknown female body was found in Toronto”. It seems that he stops reading with a heavy heart and then he puts the newspaper down.
Suddenly, he stands up.
He walks to and fro, trying to calm down at the same time. Later, he walks to the cat’s feeding bowl, and pours some cat fish biscuits into it without noticing that there is still a lot in the bowl. Again he sits back on the sofa, this time with a calmer expression.
He turns on the TV for one exclusive reason－to watch the news. At 11:15, after finishing the news about whether the pandas are coming to Taiwan, the anchorwoman broadcasts other evening news.
The anchorwoman’s voice sounds weaker and weaker to him, until all of a sudden; he clearly hears the anchorwoman say, “The police are now searching for the rapist who has raped two Chinese girls in central park within the last week…” Choosing not to continue watching, he turns the tube off.
After a long while, he is still dazed by the news.
“Meow, meow”. Interrupted by the cat wags her tail and acts like a spoiled child, he gets up. It is obvious that the cat wants to attract her feeder’s little attention, but her efforts are in vain.
In a state of utter stupefaction, he passes the black and white little thing and just drops more fish biscuits into the feeding bowl. Looking a little puzzled, the elegant cat walks away and arranges herself into ball to sleep on the carpet.
“Ding ling, ding ling, ding ling.” The phone awakes him.
“Hello, Anna?” he says in an ecstatic voice. “Hello, THIS IS MARY, is Stephanie there?” an unfamiliar voice pierces through the phone. “She is sleeping,” he answers disappointedly. Not recognizing that he is being rude, he hangs up without saying anything more.
Not knowing what to do, he turns on the TV again and lets the anchorwoman keep him company. On the screen, people are parading on the New York streets. He moves closer to the TV until his nose almost touches the screen. It seems like he is looking for someone he knows.
After taking few deep breaths, he still feels stuffy so that he decides to have some more fresh air. He is now all hung-up. He walks out the living room to the balcony. Accidentally, he overhears his neighbors arguing. It seems to him that even the rain is impatient and thus rains harder.
“Why didn’t you call? You knew that you were coming back so late tonight! How many times do I need to tell you that if you are coming back late you should…”
“Call！ I forgot.”
“What do you mean you forgot? It is not the very first time you FORGOT to call. Can’t you think of a better reason? Huh? You think your mother is an idiot or what? I bought you a cell phone, remember? I...”
“Sorry, I’m going to sleep.”
“How dare you…”
Trying to escape, he walks back to the living room and closes the window. Leaving the noise and rain outside the window, he decides to sit back and wait. The news is still on. As time goes by, the air throughout the living room becomes muggier.
Twelve o’clock, he can’t stand it any more.
He takes out the notepaper which is under the phone and reads out, “Ha…llo, Is An..na the…re ? This is Geor…ge”. He practices this repeatedly.
“No! It sounds stupid!” he murmurs to himself. Hesitating, he clenches the hand that holds the notepaper. He sits there pouting.
“Never mind,” he tells himself. Unfolding the notepaper, he keeps trying. “I am her Fa..ther….” Finally his face becomes firm; he has made up his mind. Just as he is about to pick up the phone, it rings.
He picks it up right away and says, “Anna?”
“Huh, hello? May I speak to Rorrian?”
“Wrong number!” he replies impolitely to avoid missing Anna’s call. After about two seconds, he can’t stand it anymore. He firmly picks up the phone again.
“du…du…du…du…du…du…du…du…du…du…du…du…,” He doesn’t give up. “du…du…du…du…du…du…du…du……du…du…du…du…du…”
“Hello?” It sounds like her eyes are not fully open.
“Ha…llo,” his voice is A combination of worry, embarrassment and anger.
“Papa? Is that you?” She still sounds tired and confused.
“You didn’t call at 9 o’clock as usual…” the voice is unexpectedly calm and emotionless. All of a sudden, he hears a scream through the handset that is probably loud enough to wake all the people in that building.
“NO! OH MY GOD! I am late. I stayed up late cramming for an exam yesterday. Papa, I’ll call you later. Bye! Bye!” She hangs up without hearing him say goodbye and rushes to her first exam at New York University.
“Be careful,” he talks to the phone that can’t answer him and hangs up, too.
The tension in the living room now eases. Beaming with joy he can finally release the stress from his body and soul. Somehow he just doesn’t feel tired at all, although it is already 12:29 A.M.
He walks to the cat and tries to touch her head, but she is not in the mood for affection any longer. The feline changes her posture loftily and snubs him.
“Rain makes the weather cooler. You like that, right, kitty? I know you like it. Me, too. You are just too shy to respond. All right, good night!” The cat doesn’t move at all but he gives her a big smile. At last, he turns off the light and briskly walks to the master bedroom.
Not knowing the exact time, the downpour outside has eased to a light drizzle.
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