Nanoooooo...
Here's the beginning of my story:
Little Girl sat back and pulled her hands away from the keyboard. There was no moss growing on these people if they responded just to her presence on the web site so quickly. Why were they so interested in her? What did they want to know? That might be a good question, actually.
She leaned forward again. “What would you like to know?”
“For starters, what do you want us to call you?”
“Well, all my friends call me Little Girl, so I guess that would be all right here, too.”
“Little Girl? Are you short or young?”
She laughed. “No, but compared to my husband, I'm both. He's six feet and three inches tall.”
“Is that why your user name is Littlegirl66?”
“Yes, it seemed like the right thing to call myself.” She stared at the screen. “Why do you call yourself Meanjerk?”
“LOL, it's something my wife said to me as she packed up and left. Everyone here calls me Chuck.”
“Oh. Well... hi, Chuck.”
“Hi, Little Girl. I'm Doris,” said user name Magpie59.
“Fresh meat! I mean, we're glad to meet you,” said Grungefen. “So how did you find us?”
Little Girl shrugged and then giggled at herself, realizing that they couldn't see her.
She typed, “I had a question, and I was following a trail of links, which led me to you.”
“Happens all the time,” said Meanjerk. “So what question brought you here?”
“It had to do with the “Alice's Restaurant” recording. I was wondering if the restaurant was still there in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts. I found the answer, but then found a reference to your website, and I was curious.”
“Oh, yes,” said Grungefan, “I had a girlfriend who lived up there. We put this forum together because we were tossing ideas around one afternoon and discovered we all knew the song.”
“Are you from that area, then?”
Meanjerk said, “I live near there, a little ways south of Albany.”
“Does everyone on this website live in that area?”
“No, I'm the only one in New York, actually.”
“So, Little Girl, you still haven't told us anything about yourself.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Where do you live?”
“Oh, I've lived in North Carolina my entire adult life, but my parents are up north near you, in Binghamton. That's where they retired.”
“How did they end up here if you're down there? Who retires to Binghamton?”
“Oh, my dad worked for Corning for years, and they didn't want to leave the state. My grandmother was in Oneonta until she died.”
“How did you end up in North Carolina?”
“I went to school at UNC in Chapel Hill. I met my husband there, and he's from here.”
“Hey, is Kevin around? Isn't he somewhere in the Carolinas?”
“Yeah, I think he is.”
This all seemed a bit forward. Little Girl typed, “Is it that important?”
“Nah, it's just fun to know. About how old are you?”
“You want me to tell you my age? Is there some sort of age requirement around here?”
“Oh, no, just tell us in round numbers. We just want to make sure you're a grown up.”
“Well, the first election I voted in was 1984. Reagan versus Mondale.”
“You're old enough.”
“Am I too old?”
“Oh no, our youngest members are recent college grads, but a whole bunch of us are right around the same age.”
A message popped up from MadHarpy. “Has anyone welcomed you to the forum?”
“Welcome to the forum, Littlegirl!” Appeared on the screen from several user names.
“Thank you, I think.” Did she really need to be welcomed? She had just stumbled upon these people. Was she ever coming back to this forum or whatever it was called?
MadHarpy wrote another comment. “Ooo, your husband is tall. I love tall men! Is he going to join us on the forum?”
Of course Tommy would be popular with women who hadn't actually met him. “No, I don't think he'd be interested. Is that all right?” Little Girl sighed at herself. Why did she care? It wasn't as though she ever planned to come to this website again.
“You're welcome with or without him,” Meanjerk assured her. “Harpy is always asking questions about the husbands and boyfriends. You should see how she treats the actual men on the board.”
MadHarpy commented about that one herself. “Honey, if I could ever get you to visit me, you'll learn exactly how I treat the men I like.
It was all a bit frightening and seemed a bit exciting, too. She'd just followed some links on the internet and found this group of people who didn't know each other and yet knew each other well. They seemed interested in having her join them. She didn't really have that in mind though. What could she have in common with this group of people, anyway?
She turned and looked at the king-sized bed in the middle of the room. It was empty, and since Tommy was working late, she would be all alone when she finally got in it. She turned back to the computer. “What do you talk about here?”
* * * * *
She was still conversing with her new found friends when Tommy came home.
“Hey, Little Girl, why are you still up?”
“I found some interesting people on a website, and I've been talking to them all evening.”
She got up and started reaching for the laundry he just threw in a trail to the bathroom. “Just leave it,” he said. “I'll get it after my shower.”
“Since I'm up, I might as well...”
“Just get to bed, Little Girl. You need your rest, and I'm going right to sleep after I clean up.”
“Oh.”
She remembered why she'd started going to bed so early. He just wasn't interested in her. She was broken in some way, and he couldn't stand to be with her any more. She turned back to the computer.
“It's gotten pretty late. I guess I'd better get to sleep.”
“You'll come back, won't you? If you don't, we'll have to chase you down.”
“Don't say that! We're not like that Little Girl, but we really do want you to come back.”
“Really?”
“Yes, we like you.”
She didn't even know these people, but somehow she felt a little warmer as she slid into her bed that night. It was much later when she felt Tommy's weight on the other side. As usual, he didn't come near her.