The Haunted Traveler December 2017 Edition

“No,” Nancy snapped. “I hate pills!”
They sat in silence until Nancy heard the telephone again.
Joan just sat there ignoring the persistent ringing. Breaking out in a cold sweat,
Nancy screamed, “Joan! Answer it!”
Joan looked frightened, “Answer what?”
“The phone, damn it!”
Joan sat down beside Nancy. She took her hand and said, “It’s not ringing.”
“Of course it is!”
“No it isn’t. Just calm down, I’m going to call your doctor.”
Nancy stared at Joan wide-eyed. “You think I’m crazy!” She jumped up and ran
across the living room to the telephone. “Well I’m not!” She grabbed the receiver as
she added, “I’ll prove it to you!”
“Prove what?” Cliff ’s voice said in her ear. “Nancy, don’t hang up. I just want to
talk to you.”
Nancy pushed the mouthpiece toward Joan and shrieked, “Here, listen!”
Joan listened. “I only hear the dial tone.” She hung up and led Nancy back to the
sofa. “Let me get you some fresh tea, maybe that will control your shakes.” She left and
returned a few minutes later. She found Nancy back on the phone crying, “Cliff, I’m
begging you. I can’t take anymore!”
Joan took the telephone away from Nancy, put it down and forced her to sit. She
said, “Listen to me. The phone never rang.”
“Yes it did! I’m not crazy!”
“I didn’t say you were crazy. I just think the strain is getting to YOU.”
“No, Cliff keeps calling me.”
“Nancy, Cliff ’s dead. I loved him too, but he’s gone. He killed himself two weeks
ago, remember?”
Nancy snorted and said in a bitter tone, “I know that! Why do you think I’m so
scared?”
Joan looked perplexed. “Why would Cliff want to bother you? The two of you were
so close.”
Nancy lost all the control that she’d been exerting since Cliff died. She doubled over
and sobbed hysterically. Finally she pulled herself together enough to gasp, “I killed
him.”
“What? Don’t be ridiculous!”
“No, I helped him with the razor. He was too sick to do it himself. Oh Joan, he
was so tired of dying. He just wanted to get it over with. He didn’t want to linger like
Mom.”
Joan visibly paled and Nancy could tell that she was shocked. She tried to defend
herself by adding, “I only wanted to help him. He was my brother!”
Joan finally found her voice, “Oh how awful! The guilt you must be living with. No
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