 |
| Kats Beach |
When the login was complete, she opened her list of friends.
“There must be a glitch…”
Sonya closed the viewer and re-entered the password. She waited. Then she opened her list of friends again.
It was empty. There was no one there.
For some reason, she felt compelled to open her list of friends in the different social media she subscribed to. Much to her horror, all her hundreds of friends had disappeared. There was no one in those lists, no one.
She was alone, completely alone. Those she had relied on had abandoned her, everyone, except that guy. He was still there.
She decided to send him an IM. He didn’t reply, although he was online. She sent him another IM, this time slightly more anguished. He didn’t reply.
Over the next following weeks, Sonya sent him dozens of messages, some more aggressive, others showing him how sanctimonious she was and that she needed no one. He never answered back.
This unimaginable situation became news when an anonymous tip sent the story to the media. One day, they were at her doorstep, dozens of them. “What do you feel? Can you give us any details? When did you find out? Do you know who that man is? Where he lives?” A million questions, a million arrows, stabbings to her heart, but mostly to her pride.
Sonya was now known all over the world for being the epitome of abandonment and betrayal. Television stations from all over the world featured her story. A channel, in particular, offered her an impressive amount of money to roll a 2-hour long documentary featuring her comfortable life and her dogs. “At least, I’ll have the dogs,” she thought, but she never said it on camera. That would’ve been too ridiculous. It would’ve made her look like a country girl and she wanted to look like a country girl, yes, but sophisticated, not a simplistic moron.
With the money, she bought a house by the sea. It was not big, but it was very nice. She was happy. Amidst the whole tragedy, she had, once more, managed to come out of it triumphant, she thought. And money does tend to attract people, so she would make new friends.
And she did. There was this one man especially. He lived in one the beach houses near hers. He was a middle-aged man, as sophisticated as her, as interesting as her, as available as her.
They started dating. He was all she had ever wanted. She didn’t need social media or virtual worlds. She had him. She was his. She belonged to him unconditionally. She had learned her lesson. No more strangers in her life. Her family was happy; she was happy.
I actually thought she had died back in chapter three. This poor woman is a sucker for punishment. She is humiliated but comes through shining .... except what do you have in store for us in chapter six!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is a story of someone who is willing to do anything to be acknowledged, accepted and loved, even if she has to put her life in danger, both online and offline, only to vanish into oblivion at the end, as happens to so many we come across. I was thinking about those in SL and in social media who reveal way too much about their lives to people they don't know at all. In a way, it's a physical and a mental/psychological nothingness. She progressively vanishes throughout the story. That's the irony of it! She shares so much, but this is exactly what makes her become invisible.
Delete