flashquake Nonfiction

LOST AND FOUND
by D. L. Mayhew

I put aside the poem I was working on and picked up the phone.

"You did not pay your Sleet mastercard bill," someone with a Jamaican accent informed me.

"Yes I did."

"No you didn't."

"Yes I did."

"What was the check number?"

"Just a moment." I rummaged through my purse and found my checkbook. "It was number 503. The check was for two hundred and fifty-four dollars and thirty-two cents."

"When did you send it?"

"October 20th."

"We never got it."

"Wait a moment, let me check on my account online." I booted up the computer, went to my bank's website, entered my ID and password, and clicked on "account statement", then picked up the phone. "It was posted on November 1st."

"It says here that you did not pay your bill."

"Somebody there cashed my check."

"Then where is the money?"

"I don't know, but I think you'd better find it." I hung up and turned the television on to watch war coverage. The screen was blank. I phoned my cable service.

"We turned your television and internet service off because you were 48 days delinquent in your payment," a disembodied voice told me.

"My internet service still works."

"It says here that we turned it off."

"I sent you a check."

"When?"

"I'll call you back." I found the check number in my checkbook and looked it up online. The check had been posted a month and a half ago. I picked up the phone to call them back, then changed my mind. The blank television screen was eerily peaceful.

For the first time in two weeks the war was not there.

I went back to my poem.

Copyright 2003 by D. L. Mayhew

HOME | Contributors | Archives | Contact | Guidelines