My friend's hugs feel cold.
('TW' tag is used liberally, but this is still quite dark)
My lips clutch and pin into a smile; I've got a new friend request. I had just recently signed up for this social media website dubbed Spacehey
and it's meant to be a Myspace revival. I had a blast stitching first-page CSS layouts and making my profile look fab
like how the cool ones say it! I can't believe this, I was about to have a real friend; not just some follower. I chewed on my swedish fish candy as I clicked the 'accept' button.
My eyes blinked and I was suddenly no longer in my messy bedroom. Before me would be my newest Spacehey friend infront of me, they looked just like how their profile could compliment them and I was infatued by how pretty they looked. The both of us were in a complete white void with a grid floor that spanned endlessly, kind of like we were in an MMORPG's lobby or opening screen. My jaw and my teeth bit into eachother as I couldn't contain my excitement. I shouted my friend's full username because that's all I knew about them, and I began to run towards them. I didn't have many friends, let alone ones that I could feel in real life and in real time; this was a big deal for me.
As soon I brought myself into a tight embrace with my new friend, something switched and the transition made me softly gasp to myself. It felt like I was embracing a mannequin, this wasn't my friend it was a hyper-realistic decoy of them. Their skin and hair feel synthetic and I felt no heartbeat or the mild shifting of the chest that could indicate breathing. My cheeks flush hot, every bone in my body was hysterically laughing at how awkward I was. With cloudy eyes I departed from the hug. How could I be so stupid?!
I berated myself internally, just like every teenager to live.
Then, around me the white void dimmed and I could see the artifical recreation of my friend rapidly transform into a pile of sand. It started with every fiber thinning out before it broke off into grainy clumps that clattered the floor like pouring cereal. My throat exhaled dry and my eyes watered as I watched completely still. I knew this was not my actual friend so why was I persistent in caring for this recreation? I was pulling teeth just to quench the desire to scream but there was a glass shard occupying my throat. Everything was in slow motion and I could only start to move again once it was finally done.
All that was left were grains of sand that scattered the floor. Each one of them felt like a fine spike that penetrated through my shoes, I had to run away from this mess: but to even where? this was an infinite void of light gray that replaced the white, this world might aswell cycle and I'll just come back to the remains of sand. I stopped, and a sudden envelope dropped onto my face from the sky, heavy as an unopened can of soda. It was already opened for me, so I just read it given the novelty of this letter is already worn off.
My friend just deleted their account.
All of the above was meant to just be an intro for a blog about how Spacehey users don't feel like real people, but I just decided to scrap the whole thing (It would've got me on top blogs again /extremely negative connotation) and decided to make this a short story instead.