Dial - Season 1 - Episode 45

4 years ago

Dial - Season 1 - Episode 45

The cable of the television that linked it to the wall power socket was out!

Yes, I remembered now…I had pulled out the cable plug from the socket after I had switched the power off, and then I had gone to bed.

So, in effect, the television was not connected to any power source.

But the blue screen was on now!

I walked silently to the wall and stared at the socket.

Yes, the television cable was dangling free; it wasn’t connected.

I breathed slowly and took hasty steps back to look at the screen, thinking that perhaps my mind was playing tricks with me.

When the television screen came back into view, I saw that it was no longer blank, no longer a blue screen, but there were words on the television.

Words that chilled me to the bone…words that made me open my mouth wide with horror.

They were simple words, of course, and they said:
Tomorrow is your wedding to Akos.

Just a reminder.

Thanks.

I stared at the words, and I couldn’t breathe.
I felt the air s----d right out of my body, and I dropped the remote as I backpedalled toward the bed, my breath coming in wheezes. Then, I stumbled and fell, and as I gained my hands and knees I looked back, expecting the words to have disappeared…but instead there were more words!

Tomorrow is your wedding to Akos.

Just a reminder.

Thanks.

PS: You’re on my redial list, remember that.
I gagged.

Frantically, wheezing with horror, I crawled to the bed, reached out for the switch I was supposed to press in an emergency, and I jabbed at it repeatedly with a finger that shook to high kingdom!

I sat on the floor with my eyes on the ominous words on the television and jabbed that panic switch jab jab jab jab jab jab!!

Eventually, I heard the lock turning, and a moment later the door opened and Light Duke Greyhem rushed in, his florid face red with apparent worry. He saw me on the floor and came toward me, his face concerned.
“Mr. Biko!” he said, sounding concerned. “What’s the matter, Mr. Biko! Are you not feeling well?”

Frantically, I pointed at the television…but of course the screen was now black, as if nothing had happened.

Black and blank.

The words were gone, and it was just a television which had been switched off.
My whole body ran cold.

“Th-there were wor-words on th-the telly!” I said, stuttering, my horror complete.
He put a cool hand on my arm.
“Take it easy, take it easy, Mr. Biko!” he said carefully, soothingly. “It is okay, everything is okay. Tell me what happened.”
He was able to calm me down, yes.
He didn’t even let me sit on the floor, but took my arm and led me to the settee, sat down with me, and asked me to tell him what happened.

And so I narrated it all to him.

He listened without interrupting, and then he stood up and went to the television, made sure that the power cable was indeed out, and then he turned and came to sit back down with me.

“I’m not going to say you didn’t see what you said you saw, Mr. Biko,” he said gently. “The human mind is the most complex network God ever created, more complex than ten thousand super computers mankind has been able to produce, and so yes, I believe you.”

“You do?” I asked hoarsely.
“Yes, I do,” he said with a gentle smile. “But it wasn’t evil, Mr. Biko. It didn’t come from this fetish priest as you’re thinking. It was a mental projection of your fevered mind, because you’re so stressed up about what is happening, about the deadline given to you tomorrow.
Since tomorrow is almost here, your mind is going overdrive, projecting danger signals, and it is perfectly normal. Don’t be afraid, Mr. Biko. It was just a figment of your mental capabilities taking over in reaction to your anxieties. Everything is done, and you’re okay. By Sunday, you’ll see how silly it has all been.”