Not too long ago after going over my budget, I realized I was wasting money by having a land line telephone in my apartment, and having a mobile phone also. So I decided I would call the phone company and have my land line disconnected to save a little money.

Most people would usually just call my mobile phone or text me anyway.

On a Friday I called the phone company and arranged to have them disconnect the line and they confirmed it would be done soon. I didn’t give it another thought.

Sometimes tend to keep a busy schedule so I kept putting off the task of unplugging the land line phone and separate answering machine.

But when I had time I had planned to give both to my elderly neighbor downstairs. He would appreciate it.

A week or two later I had dozed off in front of the TV and was woken up by the land line telephone ringing. I opened my eyes and looked at the clock.

11:00PM.

I was tired so I decided to let the answering machine pick up the call.

When the answering machine finally picked up the call, I suppose the caller hung up. No message was recorded. The phone number on the caller ID just read “Unknown”….I went back to sleep.

A couple of nights later I was brushing my teeth and heard the phone ringing again. I walked into the living room as the answering machine picked up and again, no message.

The clock next to the phone displayed in red glowing lights, 11:00 PM.

Later that same week I was reading a book in the living room when I was startled by the phone ringing again. Yep it was from “Unknown” and yes it was 11:00PM.

This time I got to the phone and answered. “Hello” I said.

The line had a little bit of static but I could hear a voice, far away it seemed.

“Hello” the voice said back.

I couldn’t make out if it was a male or female.

“Hello can you hear me?” I said in a louder tone.

“Hello” the voice said very faintly.

“I can barely hear you, who is this”? I asked.

“Hello can you hear me” asked the voice.

I replied louder, “Yes but I can barely hear you, who is this, whats your name?”

Then the line went dead.

The call could have been a wrong number or someone calling from an area with bad reception but I just had a strange feeling, there was more to it.

Over the next couple of months the calls from “Unknown” continued to call my apartment. Sometimes right at 11:00PM or sometimes a few minutes after. And I could count on at least 2 calls a week.

Every time I was able to answer it I would hear the same far away voice saying “Hello, can you hear me, Helloooo?”…

Finally I called the phone company to ask why I requested to have line disconnected, but I was still receiving calls.

She said according to her records the line was disconnected at 5:00PM on the same afternoon I had made the request.

I scheduled to have a technician come out and check the lines. When he arrived and checked the lines he said “Your phone line is disconnected. You are plugged into a dead trunk. Meaning theres no way you can make or receive any calls from this phone”.

Then he unplugged the phone from the wall and rolled up the cord onto the phone keypad, then left.

I was left scratching my head asking how can I keep getting calls from a dead phone line? I tried to get the whole situation out of my mind.

I went for a jog then came home, showered and I turned on the TV for a little comedy relief.

After a while I dozed off I woke up suddenly to a phone ringing! It was my disconnected phone line. This was not a dream. The cord was laying right on it where the technician had left it!

I walked towards the ringing phone and stared at the red numbers on the clock glowing back at me. 11:03PM…

I answered “Hello…?”

“Hellooooo” came the faint reply “Hellooooo, can you hear me?”

I hung up quickly. Immediately packed up the phone in a shoe box and put it far back in one of my closets.

I never touched that phone again.

Every once in a while I will hear the faint muffling sound of a telephone ringing. I refuse to believe it’s the same phone. I just tell myself it’s the neighbor’s phone.

But when I look at the clock, somehow it’s always around 11:00PM.

14,599 Comments