Meeting an online 'friend'

I was half way through my revision for the day. I was proud of myself for not getting distracted, practising self-discipline and keeping to my mother's words. Having spent a solid hour of pure revision, I decided to take a short break.

Just as I was about to leave my room, I heard weird noise, which sounded something like a bird chirping. Out of curiosity, I went to the window in my room and craned my neck to see what was making that unusual noise. But I could see nothing. I then began to look around my room and realized that the noise came from my computer. My computer was winking at me. It was the notification from my computer telling me, my friend, Jasmine, had just gone online.

Jasmine was my best friend. It was a feat not to chat with her. Just then I recalled my mother’s words, “Please be focused while studying and don’t use the computer unnecessarily.”

The temptation was overwhelming and I finally succumbed to it. I could not help it but go online to chat with Jasmine about school stuff. I chatted with her for less then ten minutes, and just as I was about to return to my revision. I realized that there was another person online waiting for me. I looked at the clock and thought that if I had a chat with Tina, I could still continue with my revision thereafter. So I carried on.

I started a conversation with Tina. She was nice and sweet. I was having a ball of time chatting with her. Soon Tina began asking about my personal particulars. Without any hesitation, I revealed about myself, without realizing what I was doing. I lost self-control and continued chatting with Tina, completely not bothered about time at all.

Before I realised it, I was online for hours, till she told me that I was such a nice person and that she really wanted to meet me. I agreed with her and arranged the venue and time accordingly.

After I went offline, I thought I could do some revision, but to my horror, it was already half past seven. My parents would be returning from work and I have yet to do my regular chores.

Without any delay, I took my shower and got ready. I was just in time to welcome my parents' home. “What a relief!” I said to myself.

Shortly after that, we had dinner and went to bed. As I went into my room, I waited for the clock to strike nine. My parents who assumed that I was sound asleep had retired to bed. They were so wrong. Quickly, I sneaked out of my house and went down to my void deck to meet Tina.

I rushed down as quickly as I could. As I reached the place where Tina asked me to wait for her, I could not see anyone. I waited.

Time ticked by at snail’s space, but no one came. I started to get anxious. I grasped that something was amiss.

All of a sudden, someone from the back covered my mouth. Soon I was also blindfolded, my fear escalated. I was panic-stricken. My heart pounded rapidly.

I knew I was being taken to somewhere but was clueless of my whereabouts. I broke into a cold sweat. Droplets of perspiration trickled down from my forehead. Soon I passed out.

The next thing I knew was that someone splashed fresh cool water on my face. I jolted upright and there before me stood my mother. Puzzled and confused, I gave my mother a blank look. I was tongue-tied.

“Mother, what happened?” I asked her.

She explained to me what had occurred and said that she had pretended to be Tina and wanted to see how I reacted to an online stranger. At the same time she apologized to me as she did not expect me to pass out. I was taken aback. I then gave her a sheepish smile.

She told me to practise more self-discipline, better cyberwellness management and never ever to have a face-to-face meeting with a stranger. This was a real learning point for me. I learnt from my mistake and in future I hope to follow all the cyberwellness guidelines and focus on my studies.

Contributed by Navethira d/o Ravi Chandran
Class of 6-9 2009