Sundown, the Boogeyman stood inside the last functional phone booth in Salem, Oregon after emerging from the collection of random images that was his farmhouse, the Shape in tow.
He plopped the quarters in and began punching in the first set of numbers.
No answer.
He retrieved his quarters as a man walked up to the booth and stood there, swaying.
The second, nothing, another refund, the line was busy.
He then waited for a third line.
"Shiiiiiirrrrr!" The disheveled man slurred loudly, tapping on the glass.
The Boogeyman ignored him.
Last line.
Hopefully.
The man banged on the glass, making him mis-dial.
"Sir!" Now sweating, the man shouted through the glass at the Boogeyman, "Sir! This is public-public-pubLIC prop'ty! Schtop hogging it!"
The Boogeyman redialed, hoping the Shape would soon return with coffee.
"Sir!"
The Boogeyman redialed and waited for someone to pick up.
"S-s-s-s-ir! Some people have things to get done, and you're bei-"
CRASH!
The man went flying in a spray of blood, feathers, and glass, landing hard on the pavement. Michael removed his hand from the emptied frame as the man groaned. He could hear the Shape giggling in the back of his mind from behind a curtain of shine as the man awkwardly mumbled, spitting out blood, teeth and glass, "Schorry to b-b-b-bother you, Me come back later."
The Boogeyman turned back to the boxy phone.
Somebody on the other end picked up.
Annoyed, Puck answered her phone. She'd spent all day having to do HOMEWORK on a Saturday after getting banned from the Homecoming dance Josie and her shit-eating friends were at, and didn't appreciating anything interrupting her late-night binge-shopping on Amazon.
"Hello?"
Heavy breathing.
Puck glared at the phone, not recognizing the number.
"Hello?" She snapped, "Is this some stupid joke?"
More breathing.
"Yeah, alright bud, keep it to yourself!" She disconnected and smacked her phone onto the desk.
Puck jumped when her phone began vibrating again.
Tail bushed, she shakily reached for the phone.
"Hello?!" Puck snapped into the receiver.
"Uhhhh….Puck?"
"Oh, Tina, I'm so sorry!" Puck tried to recover. "I thought you were a creep. What do you need?"
"Me and Pink are planning to go to Daisy's once the dance is over. Wanna hang with us?"
Puck's brow furrowed, angry at being treated like a number two again.
Still, Soft Serve and an escape from this dump vs. a nice, leisurely night buying whatever she wanted on Amazon? Spilling hot fresh tea over burgers drowning in ketchup would be spoiled by the inclusion of Pink, so Puck not-so-politely declined, consoling herself with an extra shirt she'd been eyeing as the raven flew away, chuckling.