SFS1 - Science Fiction Short Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

from ghosts. Now
they're in talks
with two
different
carrier
networks in North America to allow ghostcalls to be charged to the receiver so ghosts
may very well be calling us soon!”
    After seeing my article, the assistant editor of
the magazine called
me and
said
that
the
article was a very good piece of work and that
he wanted me to do a full investigative report
for a cover story. He told me that I should do
three different
articles and
that
the senior
editor would choose the article which he liked
best. Also he gave me a code for an hour's
worth of time to Ghost On Call. Already my
wife has really enjoyed using this service to
talk
with her
mother's
ghost
about
food
recipes, now I will get a chance to do so myself.
    I decided that I should talk to my grandma's
ghost since she loved me perhaps the most of
all
of
my relatives.
I
used
to
spend
the
holiday's in my grandma's house. She was so
affectionate towards me. I knew her birth date
but wasn't sure of her exact date of death so I
called their customer support and gave the full
name, date of birth and death year. In a few
seconds
they connected
the call.
I heard
a
default ring tone and sat there, thrilled that I
would get to talk to my grandma once again.
    “Hi my candy boy, how are you?” asked my
grandma in a happy voice. Yes, it was my
grandma.
She was
the only
one
who
ever
called me candy boy. I was speechless for a
moment.
“Grandma, how are you? Is this real?” I asked
emotionally.
     
“It's real alright. Please don’t cry my boy, I am
fine and happy,” she replied.
     
“Oh grandma it makes me so happy to hear
your voice again.”
    “Why you didn’t call me before? I've been
expecting you to call. All my ghost friends get
calls from relatives all the time. I've been the
only person who hasn't gotten a call lately. We
don't have an outgoing facility here to call you,
otherwise I would have contacted you!”
    “Sorry, grandma. I thought you didn't have a
phone. After your death my mother took your
phone. How did you get a new one? Is that an
iPhone or an Android that you're using?” I
inquired.
    “My candy boy, we don't have phones here,”
she said with a laugh. “Once you make a call to
a ghost, the call is routed to the ghost. When
you
talk
into
the phone on your
side,
we
understand it on our side. And what we think
here, you hear that there. Put simply, your
speech is
transmitted
to
thought
and
my
thoughts are transmitted to an audible voice.”
    I was impressed with my grandma's simple
explanation about
how
the ghosts
and
the
living communicated with each other. But then
again, she had been a professor when she was
alive so
it
shouldn't
have really
been that
impressive.
“I saw Steve Jobs” grandma said excitedly.
“But even he doesn't have an iPhone!”
     
“Who else have you seen up there grandma?
Got any other interesting news for me?”
    We talked about our family members for a
little while before my call
was
suddenly
disconnected. I looked at the mobile display. It
said “call disconnected” but the signal was full.
I checked the balance to see if that was the
problem. It wasn't but I had already used up
almost half of my allotted time! I didn't quite
have enough for my article so I decided that I
should
call
some famous
people.
The first
person I tried was Adolf Hitler. After a Google
search I put in his date of birth, his name and
his date of death to see if it would connect me.
An error message flashed upon my screen and
said “Person is unavailable, has been
reincarnated.”
    After that I tried to call Abraham Lincoln. The
phone rang for what seemed like forever, but
no
one
answered.
I tried
Steve Jobs.
Same
thing. Then I tried Princess Diana and a few
other celebrities, but just more ringing.
    I guess it made sense. Normal people couldn't
reach
VIPs
even after
they were dead.
I
thought of calling Osama Bin Laden but I'm
pretty sure the FBI would have me on a watchlist faster than a sand storm.
I