I can’t say the phone call surprised me. I half expected I would get it one day, but even with that trepidation, it still unnerved me.
It started out like any other afternoon telemarketing interruption. I wonder if I could have ended the encounter before it started by simply letting that initial call go straight to voice mail. I go weeks without checking my messages, it could have easily been among the casualties of a bulk ‘delete all.” Instead, I answered. The area code was familiar, I assumed it was someone I knew.
When she asked for me, she butchered my first name. One of the perks of having an odd name is strangers always mispronounce it. Keeping with the telemarketer assumption, I was about to hang up when she said those four fateful words, “I am your sister.”
Good ol’ dad, you horn-dog. Your lecherous ways are haunting me still.
I couldn’t even stammer an answer. I would rather have stabbed myself in the eye with the fork in that road than pick the wrong path. I should have listened to the Jiminy Cricket voice in my head, the one that sounds remarkably like my husband, that kept saying… nay… screaming, “Disengage! Disengage!”
“You must have the wrong number,” as if a noncommittal response would’ve worked.
For the next 15 minutes, without taking a breath, my caller went through her ‘begats,” listing off facts, dates and historical characters in a wholly believable tale that was Lifetime Movie worthy.
When she finally paused, I jumped in with a single question that could settle the matter.
“When were you born?”
My chance at having a baby sister was dashed when she gave a date some 12 years after my birth.
“My father had a vasectomy when I was 10, two years before you were born,” I said.
The click on the other end of my phone was deafening.
Thin spiral notebook 
Wow, the imagery, the twist at the end, all wonderful. I love the set up with the photo too. It helped build the story before you reached that point. Well done!
LikeLike
I too wonder if she had all the facts of his vasectomy correct…..how could she trust that her father might give her correct facts? Good writing and sad she had these feeling about her dad.
LikeLike
You can trust me on this, her information would be accurate, and not necessarily told to her by her father.
LikeLike
Liked the killer punch at the end. Nicely done
LikeLike
This was an interesting piece…it was like she was disgusted with her dad’s ways, but at the same time, kind of wanted a sister. If dad was that much of a horn dog, she just might get her sister after all, one of these days!
LikeLike
A very interesting piece. It seems every couple of years someone in my family claims another person has stepped forward to become a half-sister, cousin, sister, etc. I’ve stopped keeping track. Fortunately, calls like this don’t come my way (:
LikeLike
This was clever, Tara… starting with the photo… fork in the road, indeed. Well, that is a path. I liked your story.
LikeLike
Intriguing. I want to know why the caller wanted to be her sister. Is she rich and famous? Or did she really believe it? I love the horn-dog line, and the idea that she both wants a sister, but seems to dread it as well. Nice.
LikeLike
Fantastic. The ending was the best part. It makes me wonder why someone would want to be the person on the other end of the line.
LikeLike
I like the way her knowledge of her father meant she was prepared for this call, even if it turned out to be a false alarm; it gives the whole encounter a totally different flavor than it would have otherwise.
LikeLike
The ending made this story… It took every hope and ended it just like that phone call. Well written and heartbreaking really, but your talent made me like it very much.
LikeLike