The Prompt
In March, researchers at Matter Neuroscience installed a ‘Call a Boomer’ payphone near Boston University that connects to a similar ‘Call a Zoomer’ payphone in a Nevada senior living facility.
The project’s goal, in part, is to connect two of the loneliest US demographics and to study the role those interactions have in combatting that loneliness.
Neither callers nor recipients know the other’s identity when they call, and their conversation topics (recorded for the study) range from the weather to dating advice.
Write a story about one such conversation.
Or not.
But be sure to include a payphone.
- What are its features and how does this device fit (or not fit ) into your story world?
- How familiar are your characters with this technology?
A story about a payphone in ancient Mesopotamia, for example, would be wildly different from one set in 1970’s Manhattan.
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Michele Reisinger
Michele Reisinger’s short fiction has appeared in Across the Margin, Stories That Need to be Told, Sunspot Literary Journal, Dreamers Creative Writing, and others. Find more of her writing online at mereisinger.com.
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