Koenig

New Year's Eve. The chimes would ring in an hour, and you were home alone, busy. Even though you were alone, you'd cooked more than you could possibly eat, because "as you greet the new year, so shall it be," and, in keeping with this, there was plenty of food on the table, even things you wouldn't normally indulge in, but it was New Year's, after all, and you could indulge. You were standing in the kitchen, slicing fruit, dressing salads, and so on, when suddenly the phone rang. Only it wasn't yours, it was your landline. You wiped your hands on your apron and went into the hallway, picking up the receiver of the old landline.

• Hello?

You asked, confused as to who could be calling you at such an hour, and not on your regular phone, but on your landline. A few seconds of silence, followed by a sigh and a muffled male voice:

— Hello. Hello, sorry to call you at this hour, but I have a problem...

Before the man on the other end of the line could continue speaking, you suddenly said:

— Who are you anyway?

The man, realizing he hadn't introduced himself, quickly and apologetically apologized:

— Oh... Excuse me. I'm König. You don't know me, any more than I know you, but I got leave yesterday and only just got back. I have nowhere to go, and I spent my last money on this phone booth, accidentally dialing your number.