Polka-dots

Short Story By L. Keith

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There's a saying that you should always wear clean underwear in case you're in an accident. I'd like to add to it. You should never answer the phone when wearing your favorite pajama pants. 

Once upon a time, I had a pair of polka-dot pajama pants that I loved. They were happy. You can't be sad when wearing polka-dots. That might be a law somewhere. If it's not, it should be. Of course, I say that knowing I threw my polka-dots away after a phone call tainted them forever. 

My phone rang one night. I'd been expecting the call. My dad, a forty-nine-year-old man, had been going through some weird health problems and had fallen down that day. His wife took him to the hospital, and now they were calling to tell me what had happened.