Ring

This was from a writing prompt I did with a friend over a lunch. We each wrote down three random words and gave them to the other to create a story from them. The words I was given were: wedding ring (two words, but I digress), sunscreen, and pay phone (again, two words...). This is the story I wrote:

Ring

The pay phone rang at midnight.

"Hello?" said the man who wore two wedding rings on his left hand. A voice on the other end mumbled imperceptibly.

"No," said the man. "I am not ready to die. Are you?...No, I thought not. You should now better than to ask these things."

He listened for a minute, watching a red light turn to green, then amber, and back to red. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a tube of sunscreen.

"Yes, I'm holding it now. Quite clever of you. I never felt you put it in  my pocket."

The man cradled the receiver on his shoulder and opened the tube with both hands.

"Are you sure?" he asked. "Only ten seconds for the reaction? Hmmmm..."

He rested the tube on the top of the pay phone. Then he loosened one of the rings from his finger, placing it next to the tube.

"Yes, yes," he said with irritation. "I'll do it, just give me a moment."

The man sighed deeply.

"Actually, I want to hear her voice first...then I won't do it. Because I need proof. This has got to matter for something. You can't kill us both...you're insane--"

A shrill noise emanated from the speaker. The man pulled his hand away and looked at the receiver in shock.

"No, no stop! I'll do it, but please, please let her go!"

Tears streamed down the man's dace. The shrill screams subsided.

"Let her go, let her go..." the man sobbed. "Yes," he said softly, "yes, I'm doing it now..."

With shaking hands he picked up the ring and the tube and dropped the ring into the tube. It started fizzing and hissing and it grew hot in his hands.

"I did it," he said, wiping the tears from his face. The entire street corner exploded.