A Halloween Story
Think Different, If You Dare
Eric Frost was a young man who lived in the city and was caught in the whirl wind of a modern existence. That’s not to say it was bad; just that he was keeping up with joneses as a good, young man should in Manhattan.
He had graduated from a college that was a top 50 university according to the definitive editorial source when it comes to such things as ranking secondary education establishments. He felt good about that. When he told people at parties that he went to this school, they seemed to be pleased. Anything for a smile.
Eric had been in New York City since he graduated from that university working in various jobs at various start-ups and corporations for the past seven years. He lovingly referred to himself as a desk jockey.
As the years progressed during Eric’s time in the city, he slowly retreated away from his friends he had made at university. They’d regularly visit watering holes where they’d get drunk and revel in the latest jokes and gossip. Enjoying life without much consciousness, he thought.
It wasn’t that Eric didn’t like his friends any more, it was just that he was finding meaning elsewhere. He had discovered a countless number of people to communicate with in a device that he held in his hand. Everyone there was incredibly interesting!! And oh, how did the opinions flow!! None of the people communicating with Eric via this device he held in his hand would consider going out and getting wasted a good way to spend one’s time.
As the years progressed, Eric became more and more withdrawn, only spending time tapping and staring at his device. He would still go to work and chat with the barista at his local coffee shop, but for the most part he was always tapping into that darn device. Laughing, smiling, and eventually as the years and time wore on, getting angry and even cursing loudly at his device. The people coming at him on the device had changed he thought!! And he wasn’t happy about it.
Luckily, one forgiving, honest and redemptive soul found it in their heart to love Eric’s reclusive ways. When he wasn’t staring at his device, his lover, and later spouse, found him to be a pretty funny person who could solve problems quickly. But, no matter how much they loved each other, that darn device stayed around and Eric would never let his spouse get in on the fun.
One week, years after they met, Eric fell ill and was unable to steadfastly watch his device. Previously, even when he was sleeping, if someone tried to grab his device, he’d awaken from his slumber swatting away whomever was reaching for it like a bear protecting its cubs. The temptation of an Eric-who-could-not-be-woken proved to be too more than the spouse could handle though.
As Eric slumbered, Eric’s spouse slowly crept towards the device, as it was, for once, out of Eric’s hand and available for review; what sort of apps will I see, the spouse wondered. The device encased in black plastic, a custom home for the device that Eric made years ago, was gleaming. The spouse picked up the device and, couldn’t believe that for the first time, was about to see what Eric spent 90% of his waking hours doing. The spouse had once asked Eric what his passcode was and Eric replied, I don’t need one.
Shaking with anticipation, the spouse slowly turned over the device to see the front of it and finally understand what Eric was experiencing all of these years. Suddenly, the spouse let loose a blood curdling scream. The face of the device revealed that there was no device at all. The device was an actual brick. No one had ever seen any of Eric’s Tweets.
