Phone booth

Daron was a security guard at a mall and he hated his job. Matter of fact, Daron hated his life. It was the kind of monotony rarely seen in fiction as most folk cannot imagine such boredom. Daron was average in every way, and he hated it.

Most of all, he hated not having friends. Every day he wished that God would send him a friend, and every day he left the mall disappointed. He knew friends didn't fall from the sky, but that didn't stop him from wishing. A person had to have aspirations after all.

So it was that on a perfectly tedious day, his life would change forever.

It all started when Daron couldn't get his favorite food - a cheeseburger. Par for the course for Daron really. The cashier misheard him and gave him a naked beef patty instead. Most people would have just accepted this inconvenience, eaten the burger, and moved on with their day. But not Daron. Daron took it personally. And as an upfront, insulted, and belittled, he left the burger uneaten in his stall.

As he sat there, hungry and annoyed, a man in a suit around Daron's age entered the mall. Daron immediately noted that there was nothing to note about this man. Almost like... himself. The man in his fancy suit looked around a little, pretended to be engaged; then entered the phone booth across from where Daron was sitting.

The phone booth was rarely used, I mean who uses pay phones nowadays? Well, this one was so advanced it even had a chair inside. I know, shocker. A chair the man used as he sat down and started dialing his numbers.

Daron's attention was quickly subverted by a little girl. The girl had lost her mother. She was afraid, crying, and nervous. Daron might not be the most exemplary human, but he was still human. He fretted over the child and did everything necessary to reconnect her with her mom. He did well, and the girl and her mom thanked him profusely afterward.

When he returned to the station, Daron could see the man in the suit talking through the transparent glass. He'd laced his feet and appeared to be in a deep conversation. Daron was gone for a while, how was this man still talking? Must be someone busy with a suit like that. As Daron stared, his gaze met with the man's. Something about that gaze spoke to Daron, although he couldn't say what. Before he knew it, the man laughed and looked away, transfixed with his conversation. Must be nice, Daron though, to have friends.

The lonely security guard sulked for a while. Another incident then came to his attention. A store clerk reported an attempted burglary in her store. Two kids tried to sneak off with candy in their hoodies. She had caught them, pinched their cheeks so hard they became red, and forced them to sit still until Daron arrived.

When he did so he saw that there was nothing to do. The clerk wanted some sort of mock execution or the like, outraged that anyone would dare steal from her premium store. The kids seemed more innocent than not. Daron could see the desperation in their eyes. And in a rare moment of clarity saw that they were thieves out of nonsecurity, not ill will. He told the clerk he'd take care of it. Took the boys outside the mall, and told them stealing was wrong. Threatened to lock them up if they did it again. Then sent them on their way.

The boys bowed and thanked him before leaving. That made Daron feel better with his day. Things were actually happening. Except for the man in the phone booth. Who was as mundane as dust.

Daron was amazed he was still using the booth. No one needed it, of course. There were no customers waiting in line. The man in the suit had every right to keep using the phone booth - Daron just found it odd.

Their gaze met again and the man looked away quickly. He seemed... tense. Apprehensive about something. Perhaps his business was not going as planned? As Daron went about his day, staring into nothing, he looked up to see the man in the suit, waiting patiently in front of Daron's security stand.

"Can I help you?" Daron asked.

"Uhm, no." The man said, scratching the back of his head. "I... I'm sorry, this was a stupid idea."

"What?" The man left to leave but something in Daron screamed for him to stop. "Wait!"

The man turned wide-eyed. "I... I didn't do anything wrong! I wasn't even using the phone!"

The man was frightened, that was obvious. "I know. Wait... you weren't using the phone?"

The man gulped, he wasn't supposed to say that. "Y-yes." He looked at his feet. "I just... sat there..."

Daron nodded slowly. "Come here."

He invited the man into his little security stand. It had a table, two chairs, and barely enough space for two people. As they sat down the man's stomach started to rumble.

"You hungry?" Daron asked.

"Yeah..."

Without thinking Daron offered his untouched burger. "Take it, I'm not hungry."

"R-really? I - I can't." But he did, a timid smile on his face.

"Why were you just sitting there all day?"

"I... have no friends you see..."

Daron nodded. "So you just go to malls and watch strangers be about their day?"

The man smiled sheepishly. "Kind of like... you?"

Daron laughed at that. "More than you know." He scratched his nose. "I was wondering what you were doing in that phone booth. I knew no one had a valid reason to be in there so long."

The man gave a half-hearted chuckle, then looked at the burger. "No one has ever gifted me anything before..."

"What's your name?"

"Jason." The man extended his hand.

"Nice to meet you Jason, my name's Daron." Daron took it.

This was A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words contest entry.

The prompt image:

Describe what you see: A phone booth.
Describe what you feel: I feel isolation.

Obligatory shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙

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Cover image source.

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