The Night Telephone

Book excerpt: Dr. Tarak Kapoor cannot sleep. He has just taken a job as a telemedicine doctor in Texas. Garnet is two days and five airports away from his home in Mumbai. Tarak is so tired, but his body thinks it's lunchtime in India. By 2:30 a.m. he is wandering the empty streets. To his surprise, he finds a brightly lit pay telephone next to a set of broken traffic lights. Even though it's the middle of the night, people drive up one by one and make calls. Why on earth are they here at this hour? Who are they calling? The mystery deepens when Tarak retraces his steps the next day. All he finds is an empty lot covered with dirt and trash. Perhaps he has made a mistake. His jet lag is pretty bad. But when he returns that night, the phone booth is back in its spot, glowing brightly. Tarak picks up his courage when an old man stops his car to make a call. Tarak questions him about the phone. The man asks, "Is there someone you want to call?" and drives away into the empty night. As Tarak looks at the phone, it begins to ring. Will he answer the night telephone?