Escaping Death

My Newish Phone

I say newish because I got it slightly used. It was at a pawn shop of all places. The brand happened to be Samsung. It wasn't one of the newer models or anything but the owner let me try it and it seemed to work alright. Besides, for the price, it was a good deal.

Especially considering I don't really have a lot of extra spending money. In hindsight, I did notice something off about the owner. He seemed almost too eager to sell me the phone. At the time I just thought he really needed the money from selling the phone. However, I will say I do remember a relieved look coming over the owner's face.

I didn't think much of it, though. I handed over my cash. Then went on my way. Afterward, I went to the store corresponding with my phone service provider to get the right SIM card for it. I handed my phone over to the cashier so that he could register it. He looked confused upon taking it.

I asked him why and he said it was because he didn't recognize the model of phone. He tried checking what model it was in the settings. All it said was Samsung XX. He tried looking it up but couldn't find any information on it. Although this was strange we didn't think much of it.

I got a call the moment I left the store. This was odd seeing as how nobody I knew was aware I got a new number. The only explanation I had at the time was that it was a telemarketer. I just thought they worked really fast now. Instead of a call for some once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I didn't care about I heard heavy breathing on the other end.

Thinking it was a prank call I told the caller that what they were doing was really original and hung up. When I got home, I sent a text to all my contacts letting them know about my new number. I sent the text to my work-related contacts first. Then I sent it to my family and friends. It worked fine at first but a week later I received a call from my boss.

I answered it to hear an ear-bleeding scream on the other end followed by the call abruptly ending. I called my boss back thinking something had happened. All that did happen was him getting on my case for calling during the lunch rush. Cut to a month later. My boss called me in because my coworker who was supposed to be working that day called in sick.

There was a lot of pressure that day since we were going to have an inspection. My boss was good at his job but since a lot of people had been calling in sick during the past week he had been forced to work more than usual. Which meant he wasn't getting enough sleep. I was in a similar boat. There was an accident an hour into prepping.

My boss was slicing meats while I prepared salads. In the middle of making my fourth one, I heard the same scream I did on the phone a month earlier. I spun around to find my boss with his hand caught in the slicer. He forgot to push up his sleeves and one of them got caught in it pulling his hand in. Under normal circumstances, I would have been able to save him.

Thing is since we were so busy the slicer was running a lot faster than usual. His fingers on his right hand were sliced cleanly off. I unplugged the slicer and called an ambulance. Unfortunately, traffic was heavy that day and he bled out before they could reach him. My mind went back to the call.