Okay so — you know that hiss you get between stations? I was half asleep last night with the radio on low and it caught something for maybe two seconds. Not music. A voice, sounded like counting almost. Then gone, back to static. Probably some trucker frequency bleeding through, I know, but it woke me right up. Been thinking about it all morning instead of doing actual work.
Could be. Or could be a kid messing with a walkie-talkie. My boss, Dave, he keeps one in his truck, talks to his cousin in the next state over about freight rates. Sounds just like that sometimes. Or maybe it was nothing. You know how the brain grabs onto patterns. I spent half my morning staring at the spreadsheet, counting the rows, thinking it was a signal. Just noise, Lena. But yeah, it gets under your skin. Did you try turning the radio higher? Might've caught it again.
I turned it up and got nothing but hiss for twenty minutes, felt stupid standing there. Then I just left it on, went to make coffee, came back and it was gone completely — station drifted or whatever. Funny that Dave's freight guy theory almost makes it worse, like fine, it's mundane, but then why do I still think about the counting part. Two seconds and my brain wrote a whole story.
Exactly. That's the worst part. It's not the mystery, it's the brain filling in the blank. My roommate does that with the refrigerator hum, heard a whole conversation once. Just static. But the counting? That's specific. Trucker codes are usually blunt, numbers for load weights, not little rhythmic sequences. Maybe it was a kid, like I said, practicing for a talent show or something. Or maybe a shortwave listener in the neighborhood testing gear. Doesn't matter. You're stuck on it because it broke the routine. Now you're waiting for the static to speak. I'm just trying to finish these invoices before Dave notices I'm staring at the ceiling again.
Waiting for the static to speak, yeah, that's about right, annoyingly accurate. I already know I'm gonna leave the radio on again tonight, half-hoping, half-dreading it does something. Which is a stupid way to spend an evening. Go finish your invoices before Dave actually catches you — is he the type to make it a whole thing or just grunt and walk off?
Dave? He won't grunt. He'll make a whole production out of it. Get me in a meeting, ask if I'm "disconnected," like I didn't just stare at a spreadsheet for ten minutes. He likes to use those corporate words that sound nice but mean you're in trouble. I'd rather hear the counting again than deal with that. Yeah, leave the radio on. Worst case, you hear nothing. Best case, maybe it's a ghost. Or a very confused ham radio operator. Either way, it's better than Dave's "performance review" talk. Just don't let it keep you up all night.
"Disconnected," Christ, that's such a Dave word. Like he workshopped it in the shower. I'll leave the radio on but I'm not staying up for it — if it wants to talk again it can do it while I'm asleep and I'll just wonder about it in the morning, same as this morning. Go deal with your invoices before he corporate-speaks you into a corner.
Smart. Let the house handle the weirdness while you sleep. I'm not going to let Dave corner me today; I've got a pile of receipts from that bad vendor last week that I'm trying to hide in the coffee machine drawer. If he asks, I'm "auditing our caffeine supply." It's a better lie than what I usually come up with. Just don't get too attached to the idea of the radio talking back. Sometimes the silence is the only thing keeping you sane. Anyway, I have to go pretend I'm busy before he actually notices I'm not.
"Auditing our caffeine supply" — steal that, actually gonna use that at some point. Go hide your receipts. I'll let you know if the house says anything interesting overnight, don't hold your breath though.
Good luck with the receipts. If Dave catches you auditing the caffeine, just blame it on the new beans. I'm heading back now, the printer is jamming again and it sounds like a dying animal. Don't expect a call if the static stays quiet, but if you hear that counting again, tell me. I might need a distraction from this spreadsheet. Later.
Ha, that's your printer's problem not mine, but good luck with the dying animal noise. I'll text you if the static does anything. Go deal with Dave.
Right, my bad. Just trying to get the page out before it eats the whole document. David's already asking where I am, so I'm hanging up. If the radio talks back, text me. Otherwise, I'm stuck here with this humming beast and a deadline.
Go, go, don't let the beast win. Text you later either way.
Yeah, yeah. If the printer stops screaming before Dave does, maybe I'll sneak out early. Don't wait up if you hear the voice again. I've got to stop staring at this paper jam before it starts looking like a message too. Later.
Ha, don't let it start talking to you too, one of us hearing things is enough. Later.
One of us is enough. If the paper starts counting, I'm moving out. Or at least hiding in the break room. Later.
Break room's probably safer anyway. Later, Ana.
Break room's safer, sure, except there's that broken vending machine that hums in E-flat. Hard to ignore. Go on, leave me to fight the beast. Later.
E-flat, very specific for a vending machine — you sure that's not you filling in the blank again. Go fight your beast.
Could be. My brain's probably just tired. But yeah, it definitely hums. I'm going to go try to unjam it now before Dave comes looking. If it stops humming, I'll know it's a ghost. Or just a broken motor. Either way, I'm done with this conversation. Later.
Later, Ana. Go win against the beast.
Right, win against the beast. Or at least make it scream less. The coffee machine in there also has a spot that looks exactly like a face, so I'm keeping my eyes down. Don't let the static trick you too much tonight. Talk later.
A face on the coffee machine, of course there is. Keep your eyes down, don't feed it. Talk later.
Not feeding it, just ignoring. Though the face in the pot does look a bit like Dave when he's stressed. I'm turning off my phone now before the printer starts screaming again. Try not to count the static too hard tonight. Bye.