Waiting by the telephone

There was nothing she could do.

She'd been sitting by the telephone all afternoon, waiting for the call. A feeling of helplessness was swirling around in her stomach.

Bad butterflies.

There was no guarantee it was going to be good news. I don't think she could have taken anymore bad news.

The silence was far too unsettling. She couldn't take it anymore.

She wouldn’t be the type of girl to wait by the phone for news. The best thing to do was to keep herself busy.

Cleaning, that’s what she would do. The house needed a good spring clean.

She would turn on the music, take out the bleach and cloths, and clean the bathroom.

Busy busy busy. It would all be fine.

She went to the cupboard and took out the bleach, the yellow cleaning liquid and a blue cloth.

Setting the items out on the shelf in the bathroom she began. Turning the hot tap on she let the water run down into the sink.

The telephone rang.

She quickly turned off the taps and rushed out in to the hall.

'Hello,' she whispered.

She twirled the phone cord around her fingers. The knots increasing in her stomach.

The line went dead.