Later, the nurse handed him Nandan’s phone. On the screen, still glowing, was a half-typed text message, autocorrect mangling the words: “son, i am scared. please unblock me.”
He fumbled with the settings, fingers shaking, disabling the call barring feature. But it was too late. By the time he reached the room, the monitors were flatlining. call barring feature
But tonight, Arjun stood in a fluorescent-lit hospital corridor, phone pressed to his ear, listening to a prerecorded voice: “The number you are calling has call barring active. Please try again later.” Later, the nurse handed him Nandan’s phone
It wasn’t out of cruelty. His father, Nandan, had entered the early stages of dementia, and the spam calls had become a torment—fraudsters promising lottery winnings, fake banks demanding OTPs, and telemarketers selling immortality in a bottle. Each call left Nandan confused, sometimes in tears. So Arjun barred all incoming numbers except his own, his mother’s, and the family doctor’s. Peace returned. But it was too late
Here’s a short story built around the phrase Arjun had enabled the call barring feature on his father’s phone three years ago.