One morning, at exactly 3:00 a.m., the phone rang in Jeff’s house.
The whole house was silent, so the ringing sounded even louder than usual.
Jeff opened one eye, looked at the clock, and groaned.
“Who calls at three in the morning?” he muttered.
Still half asleep, he reached for the phone, knocked over a glass of water on the nightstand, and finally managed to answer.
“Hello?” he said, sounding annoyed and exhausted.
A woman’s voice came through the line.
“Hello, is this 555-1111?”
Jeff rubbed his face and tried to focus.
“No,” he replied. “This is 555-1112.”
There was a short pause.
“Oh!” said the woman, clearly embarrassed. “I’m so sorry for disturbing you. I must have dialed the wrong number.”
Jeff sat there in the dark, holding the phone, still trying to understand why he was awake.
“That’s alright,” he said calmly.
The woman sounded relieved.
“Really? I feel terrible. I woke you up for nothing.”
Jeff yawned, pulled the blanket back over himself, and said:
“That’s alright. I had to get up to answer the phone anyway.”