That late night Call

1:37am.
The phone rings, sharp and insistent with the kind of urgency only a telephone has.

"Hello?" I answer drowsily, eyes still closed.
A strange voice echos back to me from the other end of the line.
"Listen very carefully to what I am about to say. Write down every detail. This is of the utmost importance."
I open my eyes.
A strange compulsion to follow the strange voice's instructions overrides my incredulity. I pick up a sketch pad with white paper and pencil.
The voice quick and urgent whispering like a nervous conspirator expecting to be discovered at any moment. The other begins to describe something, this object of utmost importance.
Dutifully I take notes, and make a quick sketch.



" Now," says the mysterious voice. "Draw what I have told you. Leave out nothing. Disguise it as a life drawing study. Today at 8:51am, go to the post office and mail it to the address on the envelope that is waiting for you."



As if on cue, the doorbell rings. Startled, I sit bolt upright in bed with alarm. I gather my wits and rush to the door and throw it wide.
Nothing, no-one.
The night is silent, still.
I look down, as if scripted in a film.
Lying there, innocuous and yet strangely sinister, a yellow document envelope...
An international address is typed on a white sticker. The dot over the 'i' is missing in each case.

With a sense of foreboding, I go back to my bedroom and begin to draw.

2:04am...