Fatebook

Fatebook

Close scrutiny of images and letters on a monitor was beginning to take its toll as the dying afternoon developed a shadowy facade. A faint rustle of leaves outside swaying in synchronized fashion alerted him to the arrival of a faint sea breeze. Eyelids heavy with tiredness, John knew he would have to have a break. Resolutely he closed the lid of his laptop and with a grateful stretch of his legs he looked out from a bay window into the distant beyond. A faint band of blue with white flecks adorned the horizon, a sea in submission to the elements of the air. The enviable scene before him was a relief from the mundane labors of his afternoon work, collating Facebook names and their opinions in his latest challenge with a multitude of faces, each one differing in stance and expression. He looked again at the disquieted briny, where a fisherman’s boat had now made an appearance, a stark reminder yet again of the sea of faces on his laptop. Strangely he felt an out of character edginess, unsettling feelings hard to relinquish, Data and marketing had provided him with a comfortable lifestyle so today was no different although somehow the early evening air felt eerily vague. An ominous buzz of electrical activity broke off his thoughts, disconnected by his dormant laptop which had turned itself on. Riveted by this puzzling phenomena he gazed hypnotically at the activities of this strange machine before him. An ethereal glow had started to exude from the partition casting rays that emanated outwardly. Curiously drawn by the lurid light, he lifted the lid. A rhythmic vibration pulsated, like an indirect fracture along his arm accompanied by a potent heat that drew his breath. His computer appeared to be seething with life. The glow had intensified, momentarily distorting his vision and as his eyes adjusted, a face appeared to materialize amid this display of light. It was the face of a young women who he acknowledged as one of many who had taken part in his research. A swirl of wavy hair obscured part of her face resting randomly on her shoulders. Large gray eyes returned his shocked stare with a sinister expression. Her drawn lips had curved slightly into a smile or was it a smirk, he couldn’t decide. Slowly she turned away drawn by the sound of a rushing torrent. She looked back at him with the same macabre smile before disappearing from the frame. He watched with horror at the seething convolution of water that now replaced her. It dominated the entire monitor almost ready to rush out and pervade the room. He looked away in disbelief and terror painfully aware that the spectral luminosity was yet again manifesting itself infiltrating its way into all aspects of his living room. He cast a wary glance at the screen where another face actualized. A middle aged bearded man was peering at him in recognition with a resigned look and a morbid knowing. He shook his head as he rotated himself towards a rumbling mechanical sound, then a fierce honking and finally an out of control lorry. John shrieked in fear as the runaway vehicle appeared to launch itself at him from the screen. He slammed the lid down, pulled the plug out of its socket and fled from the room, head in hands, uttering miserably. “What have I done. What have I done.”

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