Not Just a Girl and Her Dog
Funny, but the post you are about to read is nothing like the first draft I wrote on this incident. In fact, it is the polar opposite of what I intended. Guess it really depends on which side of the glass you look through.
Let me explain.
On Sunday, I received a cell phone call that flashed Unknown Caller ID so of course I didn’t answer it. When a call comes in from someone not on my contact list, it usually shows the number.
This one did not.
A few seconds later I noticed a new voicemail from this Unknown Caller ID.
What I expected to hear on the message was a call for money from some organization, maybe a political plea, or god forbid, my car warranty had expired.
Instead I heard, on first listen, something that sent a chill through my bones.
It was not what I expected, at all.
It was something out of a horror movie, with the tears and the unanticipated high-pitched voice.
It was either a young woman, or a child, very upset and could hear the tears in her words. She asked for help, talked about her dog, and said a lot of words I didn’t understand. She asked for my help, and pleaded for the person she thought she called to please call her back. Then added something about ‘eleven years...someone wanted a divorce,’ and, ‘...we have twelve pups!’
What really threw me, however, was her plea, “he’s eating another dog!”
But she wasn’t asking for my help (I had no idea who this person was) but asking for someone’s help.
When I looked at details of the message, I could not reply, I could not call back, I could not do anything.
All the buttons to reply to this message were grayed out.
A scam? A prank? If it was, hard to figure out a reason why.
I listened a few more times, but couldn’t make out everything the person said.
A few days later I played it for a couple of friends, and one of them had a revelation.
“It’s a young girl,” she said, “she’s probably talking about her parent’s divorce. She wanted someone to talk to, someone in her family. She wasn’t just worried about herself, she was worried about her dogs, too.”
When that revelation sunk it, it changed this from a horror story to a heartbreaking one.
That also explained why I could not reply to her message. Apparently, her parents set controls so their daughter could make calls out in case of an emergency (like this), but no one could call into her phone if not on her contact list.
For this post, I originally intended to include a copy of the voicemail, but thought better of it. This was a private moment between a young girl and someone she trusted to help, someone in her family, and I was an uninvited third party.
I also posted the voicemail on FACEBOOK, but have since taken it down.
Since Sunday, no new messages appeared on my phone. Hopefully, she was able to find whomever she wanted to talk to in the first place.
All I wish for this misplaced voice is peace with her parents, and the best possible life for her and her twelve pups.
