The little phone booth was in much worse condition than when he had seen it last. It's red paint had mostly peeled off, and that which remained was faded into pink. The glass was shattered in several places, and stained brownish green from a variety of gunk growing on its surface. Blades of tall flowering grass grew out of the booth's dirt floor.
But the strangest thing was that this was a rotary phone. Mister Reis knew this town was hopelessly behind the times, but even he was unprepared for such a discovery. Was it possible this strange curse was also responsible for this backwardness? There were no longer answers to even the simplest questions. He entered the booth, and shut the door behind him.
After spending a couple minutes trying to recall how to use such a phone, he then had to spend another minute fumbling around his pockets for some change. Luckily the cash register at the convenience store was run by an inept old woman who didn't take plastic, so he actually had some. It was only two nickels, but the rates at this phone were surprisingly cheap. He pushed the coins into the slot, and pushed the crank. His fingers rotated the rusted panel until a faded number 5 was visible, and then let go. The panel flung back to its home position. Yes, this was how these old things worked. Soon he'd entered in the last digit, and picked up the headpiece and pressed it against his face. The thing must have weighed at least twice as much as his cellphone, but that was the one good thing about old technology. They seemed to last longer without breaking.
He couldn't hear a dial tone or a ring, but kept the headpiece pressed against his ears hoping it would work. If it did, his phone would soon be blasting the
most amazing ringtone ever at maximum volume while also vibrating. Hopefully that would be enough to get the girl's attention.