Yesterday I joined a writer's online community. It looks promising and hopefully it will help my writing career. As others in the group have stepped forward to offer assistance, I always wonder if those behind the photos and the bios are really who they say they are. A few years ago, I wrote a little story about a chat room. As I spend time on the new website, this story returned to me. I thought I'd include it for today's blog post. Sorry if it's too long...
CHAT ROOM
Arty flips on the kitchen light as he enters the darkened room. At the table usually reserved for food, the man begins his weekly ritual by opening his laptop computer and accessing his favorite web browser. Once running, the man chooses from a list of "favorites" and the screen dances to life. He's in the chat room.
Arty:
Gang...it's midnight, Sunday--time to log in! Bill? DJ? Catala? You guys there? Hello...I'm waiting...and waiting, and waiting...guys? Anyone? I've got some big news!
Bill:
Arty--you KNOW I'm here. What's the big news?
Arty:
Let's wait for Cat and DJ. I think they'd want me to wait...
Bill:
Come on! Tell me! They won't know and if you tell me, I'll act really surprised. Really!
Arty:
No, I'll wait...after all, we've been chatting for over a year now. I think you can wait a few minutes more.
Catala:
Wait for what? Sorry I'm late...
Bill:
Cat--glad you could make it! What kept you? Since you're a princess on a Polynesian island (like you've told us so many times...) was it some royal function that made you late? ;)
Catala:
Actually, yes. I was helping my little sister prepare for tonight's celebration! I told you guys last week. Today is my 21st birthday which means I am now queen. Everyone on the island will be there! I'm so excited!
Bill:
Okay, Arty--Cat's here. What's the big news?
Arty:
Nope...not til DJ shows up.
Bill:
Come on! He's always late--probably can't get that old laptop of his working. There's NO WAY he's a vice president at Microsoft!
DJ:
Bill...you talking about me again?!
Bill:!
Finally! Okay, Arty--we're all here...what's up? (and, yes DJ, I was talking about you!)
Arty:
I don't know exactly how to tell you guys...but here goes. Friends--I've made a major decision in my life and this will be my last chat session with you guys.
Catala:
Really?
DJ:
No way! You're just messing with us!
Bill:
Don't believe you!
Arty:
No, I've made up my mind. Last night I was driving home from the symphony rehearsal. I was about to turn my Mercedes into my driveway and as I waited for the gate to open, I saw a homeless guy digging through my garbage dumpster. I got out and started yelling at him--I was going to call the cops if he didn't leave.
Catala:
No! Arty, you wouldn't do that. He was just trying to survive!
Arty:
Cat--I said I STARTED to yell at him, but after seeing the look the man gave me, I just stopped. I couldn't do it. For a moment we just stared at each other...it couldn't have been longer than a minute, but it felt like forever.
Bill:
I hope you called the cops on him. Some of those guys can be dangerous. I've heard they know karate--the teach each other.
DJ:
Nah! He wouldn't have hurt you at all. So, Arty--what'd ya do?
Arty:
I walked over to him, reached into my pocket and took out all the cash I had on hand--it was only about $2500--and gave it to him along with the keys to my Benz.
Bill:
What?! Are you insane, or are you trying to tell us another of your really bad jokes?
Arty:
Guys, that's what I did, and that's just he start. That homeless guy made me realize something and it's something I've been avoiding for a long time. For too long now, I've been worshiping a false god--the god of money.
Bill:
NO!
Arty:
Since my wife died building orphanages in Colombia last year, I've tried helping others who are less fortunate than I, but I was a hypocrite. I really didn't mean it. That homeless guy made me realize that. So I've decided to give everything away--all of it. I'm actually at the airport right now.
DJ:
Seriously man?
Arty:
I'm about to board a plane bound for Nepal. The plan is to take a year of meditation and then I'll begin my life's quest--perfect harmony with the earth. So, I guess this is goodbye. They won't have computers where I'm going, or cell phones, or pretty much anything. I'll be one with the universe.
DJ:
Arty--what are you going to do with your laptop? Don't give it away! Give it to me!!! Have someone at the airport send it to me! I could REALLY use it! Quick--write down this address! I live at 1457 W Elm, Gunlock, New Mexico, 75087--have them send it to me, I'll pick up the shipping! That's 1457 W Elm, Gunloc--
Arty:
DJ? DJ, you there? I guess his computer died again.
Bill:
I told you he didn't work for Microsoft! What a liar!
Catala:
Bill--don't be so hard on DJ. So he wasn't completely truthful to us. What about you? Do you really live on a 5000-acre ranch in Montana. Do you have the trophy wife you're always bragging about? And is your son really a genius like you've said? Sometimes I don't feel you're completely honest with us.
Bill:
Cat--we've been over this before. I was the youngest PhD graduate ever at Cornell and I did invent phase-shifting nano technology that's about to revolutionize cancer treatments forever. You can google my name if you don't believe me.
DJ:
I'm back! 1457 W Elm Gunlock NM 75087! Arty--you got it? Just tell the airlines that it needs to come to me--they'll do that! I saw it in a movie onc--
I think his computer really died this time. Arty--will you please send it to him?
Arty:
Of course I will. Bill, tell DJ (if he ever logs back on) that the laptop is coming. Cat--happy birthday! I'm sure you'll make the prettiest queen your island has ever seen. Oh how I wish I could be there! Remember--if you see inside your soul I will be there. Take care, friends, and goodbye! God be with you all!
The man at the kitchen table stops typing and reads the responses from those in the chat room.
Bill:
Cat--I can't believe he's gone. What a bummer! You think you, me and DJ should continue our chat room?
Catala:
In a way I'm glad Arty brought this up because as of today I'm not longer princess, but I become queen of the island and I won't have time for the chat room. So I guess this is goodbye for me, too. I wish you all the success in the world! Take care.
Bill:
Yeah, whatever! Have a great life Cat, and happy birthday.
"Bill? Are you finished chatting with your friends? You're done kind of early tonight, aren't you?"
"Yeah," Bill responds. "It's also the last time I'll be chatting with them. Arty's moving to Nepal and Cat's becoming a queen tomorrow."
"You have such interesting friends," Bill's mother replies.
The man reads Bill and Catala's responses and laughs at the last electronic correspondence he will have with the teenager, the Polynesian queen and the man from New Mexico. He turns his attention back to his laptop and opens a new browser pages as a woman enters the kitchen.
"Hi honey," she says in a kind voice. "How'd it go tonight?"
"Oh, about the same," the husband responds. "Looks like the Asian stock markets are still looking good How was work?"
"Terrible," the tired woman says as she slumps down in the empty chair beside him. "We had a server crash that kept me busy all night. I'm going to go check on Jr. then hit the sack. You coming?"
"In a minute," the man says. I just have to check one stock."
"Don't take too long."
"I won't. Goodnight."
The woman leaves and the man opens a new chat room website.
Arty:
Howdy! Anyone there? I just retired from the military--37 years--and my daughter-in-law thinks I should do something social now that my wife's passed on. The handles Artimus, but you'all can call me Arty.
Arty smiles as others log on and welcome him to the conversation.
A half a world away a beautiful bronze-skinned woman closes her laptop and leaves the room. She walks through an open courtyard to a beach where gentle waves kiss the sandy shore and palm trees bend slightly in the warm morning air. It's her 21st birthday today and she's to become a queen.
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