[016] - Calling God

This one is a response to this prompt, about a girl who works in a call center who ends up calling god.  Still a little behind, but one of these upcoming postings will cover multiple digits towards the challenge as I'm working towards the February contest for the WritingPrompts subreddit, which is to write a novelette (as that clearly will not happen in one day alone).

***

“Now what we want to do next is unplug the cord from the jack but before…” Paula stopped talking as the call dropped, placing her telephone into outbound status to prevent another call from coming in before she could call back her customer.

She dialed the number, but it went through to voicemail.  Waiting a minute, she dialed again, this time rewarded with an answer.

“Hello?” the voice that answered sounded deeper than that of the customer she’d just spoken to.

“This is Paula calling back from Integrated Solutions, looks like we got disconnected.  I was speaking with a Mr. Dearborn, is he still available?”

“You were indeed.  You’ll be pleased to note his issue has been resolved, Miss Tarrell.”

“Good to hear, good to hear.  That said, is there anything I else I can do for you?”

The man on the other end gave a hearty chuckle.  “Usually when people call me, they’re asking me to do something for them.”

“Well, I’m with Integrated Solutions, so we’re here to support your internet connection.”

“Oh, I have no need of the internet, Paula Elizabeth Wendy Tarrell.  I can see how you may have misconstrued my previous comment, I just wanted to let you know not to worry about Mr. Dearborn’s issue.”

“Did I dial the wrong number?  Wait--how do you know my full name?”

“You have your job, Miss Tarrell, I have mine.  Now, I see you are a kind soul, what sort of boon can I grant you?  An intervention to stop your son from going further down the wrong path?  Your mother a reprieve from her early Alzheimer’s?  A more normal life for your friend’s autistic daughter?”

“How do you know all of this?  This is creepy.  Are you some sort of stalker?” as she spoke, she sent an instant message to her supervisor.

“In the most general of senses, I suppose you could call me that.  But I’ve got a vested interest in keeping tabs on you.  Been doing it for years now, in a variety of guises.  I fear you’ll have only a little while longer to ask the boon of me, but I know why you felt the need to contact your manager.”

“How could you know…?  Guises?”

Still no response to the message she’d sent.  Perhaps due to the call timer appearing frozen and not ticking upwards as the seconds passed.

“I suppose I should introduce myself.  Such formalities often slip my mind, sorry.  With as much knowledge as I deal with…” he trailed off.  “Anyways, I’m God.  Also known by a variety of other aliases, Odin, Kali, Zeus, Yahweh, Venus, etcetera.  Pretty much any deity you can think of, that was me.”

“This is crazy.”

“I can see how it might seem that way, and talk certainly won’t allow me to prove myself to you, even if I tell you that I know that your sister killed your family’s dog accidentally as a child and that you helped her keep the secret.” He paused, then continued, truncating Paula’s protestation before she could voice it.  “Our time is running short, Miss Tarrell.  Omnipotent and omniscient I may be, but even I have limits on my focus.  Name your boon, if you desire.”

“This is crazy!  I guess help my friend’s daughter, if this isn’t a prank.  But it has to be a prank.”

“The choice I knew you would make, Miss Tarrell.  Selfless at your core.  It will be done, and your kindness rewarded.  Live well, Miss Tarrell.  You are loved.”

With that, the call ended, leaving Paula’s thoughts racing.  Surely that must have been a prank, but how that person known all those things about her?  Checking her phone, it displayed no evidence of her completed outbound call, and the messaging client on the computer showed no record of the message she’d attempted to send to her supervisor.  She shook her head even as her arm started trembling.  Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she jumped when her manager tapped her on the shoulder.

“Paula, log out meeting then meet me in my office.”

She nodded, then followed him.

“Everything okay?” she said upon taking a seat across from him.

“Very much so.  How would you like to take Rob’s place, take over his team as their new manager?”

“Oh, wow.  That’d be great!  Thanks!”

“Well, you’ve been doing great work.  Congratulations!”

They chatted for a little while longer before she went back to her desk to finish her last shift as an agent.  Before she logged back in to the phones, she looked upwards.

“Thank you.” She whispered.