THE CALL.

He woke up when the alarm beeped and sat upright on the bed . He was glad to be on leave. He had made plans for the whole day. He would meet all his friends and have a blast.
He was having his breakfast when his phone rang.
‘Hello?’
‘Is this Dex Carr?’ a stern voice demanded.
‘Yes, I’m speaking. And you?’
‘It’s your boss,’ the voice fumed.
‘Oh,’ Dex was confused, ‘Good morning sir. I’m sorry I couldn’t recognize your voice. Is everything fine? How did you like my report?’
‘You call that a report?’ the voice thundered. ‘Come to the office immediately. I think we have serious matters to discuss.’
‘But sir,’ Dex was helpless, ‘I’m on a two-day leave.’
‘I don’t care if you are on a month’s vacation. Come immediately or be ready to get fired tomorrow.’
The phone was disconnected.

Dex did not know what to do. He had waited so long for this day. But now his job was at stake.
He quickly went for a shower and got dressed. Then he opened his briefcase and filled some files in it. In a few minutes he left.
He started the ignition of the car and cursed his boss. Just after a few minutes Dex remembered that his car’s tank was almost empty. Dex did not have time to fill the tank so he quickly jumped out of the car, cursed his stars, and left to get a cab.
Dex checked his watch. It was going to be late, he thought and began walking fast looking for a cab or a bus.
Walking along the road, he did not notice two petty thieves following him. They came closer to Dex. While one of them pushed him down on the road, the other took Dex’s briefcase and ran.
Dex shouted at them and quickly stood up. He ran after them. But they were too fast.. He still tracked them and when Dex came to a corner he saw his briefcase lying on the floor in a battered state with his files and papers scattered all over.
The thieves were looking for the money. Unable to find any, they vent all their anger on these files and briefcase.
Dex collected his files and papers, left his briefcase, and went for a bus. As soon as he boarded the bus, Dex sat down and rechecked his files.
When he left the bus he felt thirsty and went to a small shop for a cold-drink. His hand went into his pocket but Dex realized that his wallet was gone. Oh my God! Dex thought, someone picked my wallet when I was on the bus.
Poor thirsty Dex went on foot for sometime but his stars were still not on his side. The sole of his shoe broke and now he could not even walk properly.
As Dex was crossing the road someone accidentally pushed him and his papers flew in the air. Dex was quickly collecting them but a motorbike came and hit him from the back.
When Dex opened his eyes he saw a crowd stooping over him. Dex sat up groggily and realized that he was lying on the footpath with only half of his papers.
‘Are you okay, mister?’ one person asked.
‘Where are you going?’ the other asked.
‘Can we help in anyway?’ another asked.
Dex stood up and collected his papers, ‘No, thank you. I’m fine.’

When Dex reached the office, he was in a pathetic condition. The receptionist stared at Dex from head to toe and called after him.
‘It’s me, Dex Carr,’ he shouted back at her.
Raising a brow, she resumed her work quietly.

Dex knocked at his boss’s door.
‘Come in,’ his boss ordered.
‘Sir, I’m sorry I’m late,’ Dex was palpitating.
His boss looked at Dex in disgust, ‘Dex, what is wrong with you? What are you doing here like this? I thought you were on a two-day leave.’
Dex was perplexed, ‘But sir, you called me in the morning and said that you wanted to discuss something about my report.’
‘I called you?’ his boss was confused. ‘No, I didn’t.’
‘But ... then who...’ Dex collapsed on a chair.



In a room, five college going kids were sitting with a telephone and a directory between them. They all were guffawing.
‘Wow, that was a good one,’ one said.
‘Let us try the letter ‘K’ now,’ the other said.
‘Okay! How about Mr. Peter Kent?’ the third said.

THE END.