Zach finally sat down in front of his dilapidated personal home computer after a long shower. He liked long showers as it has a therapeutic effect on him. To him the physical act of cleansing is symbolic, both mentally and spiritually - he gets to tear himself away (temporarily) from the troubles and worries in his irreverent mind and experiences inner peace for a while.

Soon enough, our self-confessed net freak here was multi-tasking in front of that cube, also known as the monitor. He was surfing movies sites, downloading the latest songs most pleasing to his ear and he was mingling with a ton of strangers in the heaven of chat-land -->mIRC.  But surprisingly enough, today is different from any other day. Today, although there seems to be the usual endless chatter in the mains and although he's getting all kinds of private messages, Zach felt lost and alone.

He clicked and clicked and clicked the mouse repetitively, as if upon instinct.

His fingers moved from one far corner of the keyboard to the next.

He scrolled up and down and then back up again.

Is this the new form of communication? Will we be thrown into a world so devoid of feeling ? So many people but none actually actively building relationships with each other, none really listening and taking the extra effort to see that behind that smile or behind those tears, there is something burning inside just waiting to be unleashed and shared with a comforting ear.