After All, They Are Here

3.16 am. H looked at the clock on his mobile phone. He was having a concersation with another one of his close friends (who only had a virtual presence in his life) on GTalk. He was not writing anything himself though, just looking at the stream of words flowing in. It was unusually cold for the part of the world he was in, even though it was early January. There were at least 16 browser tabs open on his laptop, this chat window being one of them. Not that he was paying attention to this chat because the movie and song downloads had slowed, but his interest in the conversation was waning anyway. Again, it would not be fair on his part to his friend, who was going through a rough patch. In other words, there had to be a way out. There had to be coffee. So, with some effort he dragged himself to the kitchen and switched on the coffee maker. As the water started simmering, he went back to check if his friend had left or not. And on the screen were these words:

 

 

 

 

I'm developing weird feelings for you

I'm not sure what this means

You are free to not reply if you don't want to

For someone who was just out of a break-up of a seven-year relationship, these three sentences bore a world of possibilities in them for H. Which also meant that a multitude of emotions - of various shapes and sizes, was waiting to break free from his mind. But one thing was certain - he would surely be lying to himself if he were to tell her that he had no such 'weird' feelings for her as well. They had been talking to each other for quite some time, had also exchanged phone numbers. And this was besides the fact that even she had gone through a heartbreak. But, would it be fair to tell her at this juncture, he wondered? Groping for answers at an unearthly hour, he decided to go back to his web of social networking contacts for help. He posted a direct message on Twitter to a lady who was known for her large-heartedness and ability to spread cheer. And then he went back to the chat window. She was still online. And was now asking him this question:

Do you like any of the girls you have met here?

'Here' meant the online meeting ground - an amalgam of Twitter and Facebook. And yes, he had met quite a few members of the opposite sex online - and of a wide age range. And some of them had been telling him about some secrets in their lives which even their near ones were not aware of. He had no clue why they were telling him these things. But it was certain that they were trying to tell him something. Maybe it was: 'you are a patient listener, hence we can confide in you'. Or it could be just that he was 'yet another listener' for them. But then, it was real. And this was an entirely new dimension he had to deal with it, as after all, they are here.

So he continued listening and letting his friend vent her heart out, until he looked at the clock again: 6.13 am