It was a Thursday night and after arriving home from work, I reheated some leftovers from the previous night, ate dinner, and settled onto the couch to watch television until it was time for bed. It had been an exhausting week at work, and I had not had the energy for anything else. The weekend couldn’t come soon enough. I put on my favorite TV show, cuddled up in my cozy blanket, and watched.

Just as I was experiencing a state of euphoria during my evening, I heard a buzzing noise from my phone. I raised my head and saw light emerging from the corner of my dining table. Someone was calling and I forgot to bring my phone with me. The last thing I wanted to do was get off this couch. I thought of who would be calling, and it was most likely one of my bored friends wanting to chat. I rested my head back down and let the phone ring.

After several rings, the phone went silent. Then, I heard a notification from the phone, most likely someone leaving a voicemail. Strange. If it was just one of my friends wanting to chat, why leave a voicemail? I wondered: could this be something more important? The curiosity got to me. I got off the couch and retrieved my phone.

I looked at the list of notifications, and sure enough, I saw a voicemail. I clicked on the notification, the information of the voicemail promptly displayed, and to my surprise, the caller’s number was my own. Confused, I tried to scroll up and down to see if there was something faulty, and the information didn’t change. It also showed that it was a 30 second message.

I clicked to listen to the voicemail, and to my surprise, a familiar voice started to speak. It was my own. It was me, panicking. I was saying to not go out with Chelsea this weekend. My voice sounded distressed, almost screaming. I pleaded not to go. Then the voicemail abruptly ended. Stunned and confused, I didn’t know what to do.

I attempted to replay the voicemail, but it was no longer available. Odd. That has never happened before. I sat back on the couch to gather my thoughts. I tried calling my phone from my phone, and it goes straight to the voicemail options, as expected. The automated message tells me I have no voicemails. I put the phone down beside me and thought how it was possible to call oneself from the same phone. I thought it must be a prank or misunderstanding.

Then, I hear another notification from my phone. I picked the phone up nervously, thinking it may be another voicemail from myself. Fortunately, when I look at my phone, it’s a text message. I unlock my phone to see who it is, and it’s my friend Chelsea; she wants to know if I want to hang out with her this weekend.