The Call

It was a quiet night.

A quiet night on a quiet weekend.  Perhaps the silence is what allowed me to hear the ghostly call.  It started softly, the sort of noise that you dismiss for your imagination a second after you hear it.

Michael...

I paused, but I didn't hear anything else.  Must have been the wind.  I went back to my reading, giving the stray sound nary a passing thought.  Then it happened again.

Michael...

I glanced over the edge of the sofa, but saw nothing.  This time I waited a moment longer, though, intrigued by this second occurrence.  It had occurred, hadn't it?  I'd had a few beers that night well I was gaming with my friends earlier.  Perhaps it had been a few more than I realized.  I blinked, listened some more, then went back to reading.

Michael...

This time I leapt to my feet.  That sound had been anything but illusory.  I looked around, eyes riveted to the shadows, hands groping for something that might be used as a weapon.  Whatever dark specter waited for me wouldn't take me without a fight

"Who's there?" I asked, looking around at the empty room.

Michael... the ghostly voice moaned again.  We are so lonely... so cold... where are you, Michael?

I had now moved from the mildly-freaked-out stage to the knee knocking, hands shaking, heart pounding terror stage.  "I don't know what you're talking about!  Leave me alone!"

You've abandoned us, Michael.  Now we have come for you.

This time the voice was directly behind me.  I leapt, spun around, and let out a manly battle cry that could have easily been mistaken for a girly scream, but was anything but.  There, before me on my kitchen table, rested...

My dice bag.

That was the last thing I remember before I blacked out.  I woke up an indeterminate amount of time later, on my back.  My dice bag was back in its usual spot on my bookshelf.  Everything else was in order.  But there was one thing I knew.  One certain, undeniable thing.  The dice had made it clear.

I needed to game.

I had let them sit idle for too long.  There was only one thing to do.  I snatched up my pen and notepad and began furiously scribbling, planning for sessions to come.  The nights of gaming must rise again.  Maptool must be called forth.  Battles must be fought.  Adventures must be had.  It is the only way to appease the dice.

I just pray that I am not too late.