HACKED

HACKED!!!

Ah... it was just pure joy that I could finally get online after all those busy signals. Although it was a sweltering hot day, like all the others in Malaysia, I was still enjoying myself. Using the Internet was my one true passion. Ever since I had been introduced the Internet, I was totally glued to the computer. I loved it so much that I had to connect at least once a day. Checking e-mail, chatting, working on my own homepage was my idea of fun.

“You’ve got mail!” the computer told me after tapping in my password. My heart did a flip. It does so every time I hear those words. I scan through my list of e-mails. Filtering the adverts from my personal mails, I looked at the senders’ names - a relative, some friends and a few online buds. I decide to start reading the mails from my friends first.

After half an hour online reading and replying mails, I notice something different. I saw some mails, which had been read, but I didn’t remember reading them at all. I shrugged it off, as I could be very forgetful at times. These mails weren’t that personal after all. Just friendly mails talking about life.

I went to school the next day. Everything was normal... the usual chatter in the classroom when there was no teacher around, the sudden volume of voices whenever the bell rings... and all that. But I knew something was very different. One of my close friends was avoiding me. I didn’t know what was wrong. I thought I had done something wrong. I tried recalling everything I had done for the past week or so but could not think of anything that would or could have possibly hurt him. I was definitely getting chilly vibes from him. So, I tried talking to him during recess but he couldn’t look me in the eye. Instead, he answered my questions briefly and walked off. This was the side I hadn’t known until now. He was usually jolly and happy but today, it was a different thing. His eyes were always downcast and I don’t believe I saw him smile that day. I thought maybe I should just mind my own business since it might have been something personal.

When school ended that day, I rushed home to my computer. The previous day’s events happened again. I logged in, found all, not some, of my mails being read and this time some were rather personal. My mind started perking up. I knew that something was definitely wrong. I didn’t know what to do so, I just shut off the computer and went on with my daily chores. But the question of how my mails had been read came up several times.

The next day at school, a girl friend of mine pulled me aside and said that she had to tell me something really important but unfortunately, time did not permit us. Recess time was over. When school ended, she found me and told me that one of my close friends had hacked into my e-mail account. She didn’t tell me his name but I already knew who he was.

Oh, the anger that boiled inside me. The hurt that I could not even trust a close friend! I was painfully let down by him. I always knew he was good in this area but never did I think that he would ever try hacking into someone else’s e-mail account! The more I thought about it, the anger inside me started turning into fury. Disappointment was no longer in the picture. He was obviously a friend not to trust.

In school, I tried avoiding him as I knew that if I were to get close to him, I would have a total outburst or I would just spontaneously combust and that would not be a pretty sight, would it? As the days passed by, I cooled down. Now, all I was waiting for was the day when he would finally tell me what happened but it never came.

I was disappointed in him. Firstly, for being able to do such a lowly thing as to break into someone else’s account and secondly, for not being able to apologize. I was really hurt but time heals almost anything. I started to forget about it and we went on with our lives as usual.

One day, as I was inside my e-mail account again – obviously kept empty with a new password now, I noticed that there were two mails that looked new which had been read and I didn’t recall reading it. Immediately, my mind jumped to attention. This event reminded me of the incident quite some time ago. I was about to call him up and confront him when I realized that it was I who had been the one who had read it. It was just a false alarm. After all, I knew that this time, nobody would be able to figure out what my password was - for sure.

That night, before dozing off, the incident which took place quite some time ago lingered on my mind. I decided that I would ask him why he did it and as to how much “damage” had been done – obviously too late now.

I confronted him the next day, but indirectly, and he admitted that he had done so. I was not shocked, of course. I just couldn’t say anything else, so I walked away. Few months later, I found a composition that he had made. It was a story on what he had done. I was flabbergasted when I read the whole thing. It was exactly what had happened and he had also put in bits and pieces to paint the big picture in my mind. I know I could not have put into words the whole incident better than he did. I shall take this composition to be his apology.

After all the sleepless nights thinking about this fateful incident, it had finally come to a conclusion. I am willing to put this behind us to preserve a friendship I hold close to my heart. After all, if you really think about what happened, it was all the acts of human nature. As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. But this time, the cat gets a second chance and I hope I’ll be able to start trusting him again. As for what he had read, I just hope he won’t blab it to the whole world or maybe that's a little too late already...