Hatchet (Flash Fiction)

He stared at his computer screen and scrolled down the mouse to see an array of some known and unknown faces. Some very clearly grafted in memory while some gone hazy with time. He paused at a very familiar face and sighed. He squirmed in his seat debating whether he should or he should not. 

This was gnawing him from inside since past few days and now was getting too much to bear. With every passing second it kept on getting heavier and heavier making him feel choked.’ This is the only way ….’ he thought ‘….as out of sight would mean out of mind and it will no longer bother me’. He glanced at the screen once again which read 256 friends and smirked. He took a breather before clicking on that picture and selecting Unfriend.

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This is exactly what someone did to me this week. Facebook has become such an integral part of our lives that sometimes it is difficult to believe a world that existed before it. Though I have been there for only about some 8 months it still does not cease to surprise me every time I log in. I was always in awe of the way people displayed their lives there as if seeking for some approval from others depending on the number of likes and comments that they receive. But recently I learnt another lesson when I realized it could be used to let people know you can no longer be friends. 

Perhaps with the high number of friends on FB, most of the people think it will go unnoticed but in my case with only a random 50+ friends, all of them whom I be-friend with a lot of care such an act cannot go unnoticed. Though it was a bit unnerving in the beginning as we know each other professionally as well and despite all this interact daily - I accepted it without any questions. No questions for you can barely ask a stranger something..right? I choose to believe that person would have had a very strong reason to behave like this and hence the positivity in the story. With this, I wish joy and peace to that person , always!