Audette-O-Blog

When I was very, very young - possibly around eight or nine years old or so - I saw a small advertisement in the classifieds section of a national newspaper. The only thing the ad said was: “Outer world voice answers your call!” And, it gave a phone number. That’s all it said. My curiosity immediately began to tear at me. I asked my mother if I could call the number.

“If you really want to you can, but I wouldn’t if I were you. I don’t like the sound of it. It might be something frightening. It might be something that stays with you for the rest of your life.” She said.

That last sentence was her exact words. I still remember them clearly.

And so, I chickened out. I never called the number. But, I did tear the ad out of the newspaper, and I put it away somewhere in my room - just in case I ever changed my mind. Some time quite a bit later I did change my mind, and I went looking for the ad. But, it was gone - lost.

Damn. I wish I had called the number. I wonder what I would have heard. Keep in mind that this was long before the days of 1-900 numbers. In those days there was no way to incur a charge simply by dialing a phone number. So, I wonder what the motivation was behind the placing of that ad. I wonder what I would have heard. Damn, I wish I had called the number.