Green little men

Marianne’s attention was caught by the little green men on the screen of her son’s computer.

52 green little men. She smiled as her mind started to wonder when the computer geeks will begin to develop green little women. Then they can make green little babies.

She cast a glance at her adolescent son, snoring away with saliva drooling on the blue bed sheet. They are so lucky nowadays, these young kids. Their friends are just a click away.

Marianne began to reminisce on her teenage years when she had to creep downstairs after the light had gone out in her parents’ room to wait for the telephone to ring. She had to have lightning fast reaction to pick the phone up before the first loud ring rang out. Then she had to whisper and giggle silently, using a cushion to muffle her voice.

Joe woke up at 2 am and found that his computer is turned off. He hastily rubbed the sleep from his eyes, turned on the screen and began scanning the little green men. There she was, he noticed, relived that the girl was still there in the virtual world.

Amy saw the little green men called ‘Starlight’ appear online just as she was about to sleep. She stared at the name in trepidation, remembering the event ten hours ago when Starlight meet Moonlit in the real world. Instead of a light radiant atmosphere, they blinded each other into oblivion, ended up sitting by the lakeside in silence.

Joe's pointer hovered and turned circles around green little Moonlit, unsure whether to initiate any conversation. He heaved a sigh as the thought of the afternoon replayed itself in his memory. They had such fun online, flirting like an entwined couple and bickering like husband and wife. Yet, in the real world, they behaved like a pair of awkward stranger. The magic failed to transcend the thin line between virtual and reality. Without the green middlemen to carry their words and thoughts, they are like a car sans wheels.

Amy looked at the green men. Starlight was the third guy introduced by the green men whom she had met in the flesh this month with the same results. If only there are green men in the real world, she thought as she shut down her computer.

Joe saw that green man named Moonlit turn a pale ashen grey, not unlike the grey on a dead man’s face. So much for a budding relationship. Life will be so much less uncomplicated if only people can marry and have babies online, he thought, as he clambered dejectedly back to bed.