An usual FB story

Four years ago:

Nick created Facebook profile even before knowing what it was all about; it was only because of the fact that one of his pals had sent a mail with a link to join it. He hardly logged into it in the next six or seven months until he noticed a mail from Facebook reminding him about his friend’s birthday that week. Not to mention he thanked Facebook for the remainder for he’d have forgotten the day otherwise. He was still having no clue about what to do with that mail. He just followed the link, logged in, and saw a couple of his friend’s profile pages. That was about it then. He preferred Twitter to Facebook more so because the later was all Greek to him.

Three years and six months ago:

Nick came to know that Facebook was also referred as FB. He had almost 50 friends in his list. He learnt how to post a status, how to post in other’s timeline. From then on, he started posting birthday wishes on his friend’s timeline. He also learnt what “likes” and “shares” are. He felt happy whenever he got a notification. He was all excited to check who had commented or liked his status or something he had posted/shared. All this time, he wasn’t aware that Jane was also in FB.

Three years ago:

Nick’s friend list hit 125. It was less for someone who has been in FB for more than a year or so, but given the fact that he was choosy in accepting or sending the friend requests, it was quite an achievement. He came to know that Jane also has a FB account. He was never happy like the way he was when the news came to his ears. Just as anyone else on his shoes would have done, he logged into Facebook immediately and searched for Jane Marler. A smart person that he was, he found Jane in a matter of few seconds. Back then, her friend list didn’t even hit a half-century. He wanted to hit the “Add Friend” button very badly, but the situation demanded otherwise. He was content on being able to stalk her profile. In a way, that was more than what he deserved for what had happened between them.

Two years and nine months ago:

Nick started posting some random updates – at least one on each day. Most people didn’t understand what those updates were about. He was least bothered. He knew what they meant. There were few comments for each of his posts, and more than few likes. However, he lost interest in likes and comments. All that mattered to him was how to get a like or a comment from Jane. Will it even be possible in the first place, he wondered. But he had a hope – a hope that made him a fool, for long. In the meantime, he had so many good memories in FB, like the several unforgettable chats with the ever-hidden “X” and “Y”, occasionally-available-online “Z”. Among all those good memories FB had offered him, there was also one thing that made him feel bad. He missed her in the friend-list, big time. But the stalking continued. He liked and commented on the photos she was tagged in; of course, all mentally only. Her friend-list had crossed 150 already and was constantly increasing every time he stalked her profile. He was worried for not being one among them. In fact, he longed to be one of them.

Two years ago:

No one found Nick in FB. He had deactivated the FB account. He was careful enough not to delete the account permanently as he didn’t want to lose all his rambles.

Question: So why did Nick end the only way of communication between him and Jane (even if it was meant to be one-way)?

Answer: Nick thought that it was the only possible way to stop him from stalking Jane. To say the least, it was something that he was ashamed of.

“X”, “Y”, and few others questioned him about the reason for quitting FB. He smiled their questions off. At times, that wasn’t enough; there were few assumptions put forth. He would knock them off with a simple answer, “Never mind, I’ll be back soon.”

A year and three months ago:

Nick kept his promise; not only to end the speculations, but also due to the fact that he couldn’t control the urge to know what’s happening with Jane.

Nine months ago:

Nick deactivated the FB account. It was the same reason as last time. But in a span of few weeks, he reactivated the FB account owing to the insistence of “X”.

Two month ago:

Nick was still stalking Jane. There were no updates from her. The profile, the timeline and all remained the same for quite a few weeks.

Yesterday:

Nick couldn’t find Jane in FB. He searched a lot through all the known means. After few minutes, he realized that she did something that he had done twice in the past. He knew that the reason might not be the same. He was worried, like a lot. He didn’t talk to anyone for the next few hours. He didn’t attend any of the phone calls as well. He wanted to be away from the whole world. He was more worried about what was affecting her that made her quit FB.

Today:

Nick couldn’t stop searching for Jane even though he knew it’s of no use anymore. Surprisingly, she was found. He posted a status in his timeline. It read, “Oh yeah, it’s so good to see you back. :)”

Poor Nick. He still lives with hopes. One of them is that somewhere, sometime, Jane stalks him. Maybe, it’s true.