What Happens When You Ask for Online Assistance
Sometimes, I hate my mom. She doesn’t get what I’m going through. Was sick from chickenpox. Bad timing since I was supposed to help Mike (best friend) with his science project on how to find hackers. Also drowning in tons of schoolwork.
Most of the councilors are new. They have to go to training. Few to talk to about these problems.
Mother is a natural giving me a hard time with life. As though my life wasn’t complicated enough. Mike suggested I go to AdviceHelp. He explained:
“You don’t need to make an account,” he said. He paused. “Not unless you want to give people advice on their problems,” I said nothing. “All you have to do is type a message and someone will help you.”
Me: “Have you tried it?”
Mike: “No, but I’ve heard from several people the site works like magic.”
I laughed. Magic.
Decided to see the “magic” site was about. Stupid stupid, needing strangers online for help. AdviceHelp. Fishy. Probably scammers. To amuse them, I wrote:
“Today was awful. My mother despises me. She doesn’t let me have cookies and I have a curfew at six. She told me today if I spill milk on the keyboard again, she would make me shave her hairy back. What do I do?”
I went downstairs to get Chips Ahoy. Tried not to laugh as I stuffed cookies in my mouth. In ten minutes, someone wrote back.
Advicerate: Try talking to your mother about your situation. If she does not heed your struggles, then she does not deserve to be called your mother.
Made me drop my hulk pen. Two minutes. That’s how long it took for the user to reply to my message.
Wait. They’re joking too. No way anyone would take something dumb seriously.
Next day comes around. Tried to get out of school, but mother wasn’t having any of it. I got home that day to find her passed out. Not breathing.
I went called 911. Then I stayed right by mother, watching for any signs of life. I do not know what’s happening.
Bring on phone. From the same user as yesterday.
So…how is your mother?
“What the eff did you do to her? She’s not breathing and she’s on the floor!”
Advicerate: Nothing. She’s getting what she deserves in tormenting you with her back hair.
I didn’t reply. I showed the officers the message.
I heard from officers two days later. No clues on what happened to mother. No weapons, blood. Nothing.
Mother still in the hospital. She’s doing okay, despite being unconscious. There must be answers. The police are tracing the unknown user. We’ll see if they come up with anything from their search.
It’s been two days. The police have found nothing. The only guess they have is the user disappeared off the face of the earth. The police found no way of tracking the user. They tried multiple times.
All I could think was my mother lying in the hospital bed. She may not be a great mother, but it was she who raised me by herself when Dad left.
I need to take matters into my own hands.
I skipped school today. Too much work to do. This was more important. I browsed around for a hint, an indicator of where this user would be. Mike agreed to help. Been getting cryptic messages from user (“Don’t look for me, you’ll regret it”)
Noticed he was typing away on his phone. When I asked what he was doing, he put his phone away. Said he was messaging a friend.
“Let’s get back to what we were doing,” I told him. “Whoever he is, he can wait.”
Mike got a weird look like he knows something. “No, I’m afraid he cannot wait.”
Then Mike passed out. What the hell is happening?
I tried to find out. Mike’s phone was in his hand. Glowing was a message. Advicerate. All it said was “You’re next.”
