The Story of a Facebook profile

Segmund
By Segmund

Sadia was an unusual girl. She never mingled with her classmates at school and, at home, she had very few people. Her social interaction was limited to talking to her parents and siblings. Most people thought she was too arrogant, since she came from a very rich family and her father was a very influential person in town; some people believed Sadia was just too shy to talk to people. Sadia’s only friend was her doll. Who plays with a doll at 19 years of age, yet Sadia always kept her doll by her side and it seemed to be her only way to amuse herself.

Sadia was very beautiful. She was regarded as the best looking girl in the school. Her two aunts had always been fighting over Sadia’s hand in marriage for their sons but Sadia’s father said he had just no plans as to her marriage and instead wanted her to continue her studies and complete her education. Sadia’s cousin, Jamal, also a childhood friend of Sadia, 4 years older than her, had always secretly fancied her. He was now a college student and he always thought Sadia would one day become his wife.

Sadia made a Facebook account when her classmates made fun of her after she asked them what Facebook was. Facebook opened a new chapter in Sadia’s life. For the first time, she realized it was possible to see into the life of other people without being noticed. Since she did not have many friends in real life, her Facebook friend list too had only five people in it. Sadia did not have the courage to accept any friend requests. She, however, always liked to open the profiles of the people who had added her. She even got a bit angry when she found that the person has kept their profile secret.

When in the class Sadia used to listen to her classmates talk about Facebook. She came to know about these communities. She joined several pages and even started to comment once in a while. She liked it. One day she received a message from someone. The message went something like this:
“I do not know if you are pretty or plain, but I know you have a beautiful heart. Can we be friends?”

Sadia opened the profile of the sender, Saad Kamal, and kind of like his profile picture. She clicked on it to see some other pictures. He looked nice in all of them somehow. In fact, he looked very handsome. But Sadia thought it was possible he had put up someone else pictures, like she had put the pictures of flowers instead of her own on her Facebook profile. She eagerly went to on to read the profile. She found that the guy lived in the same town and appeared to be a student.
She did not know how to respond to the message; in fact she was not sure whether or not to respond at all. She opened the profile several times to see the pictures, his friend list, about me and things of that sort. At night, lying in her bed, before going to her bed, she thought of the guy. She decided she would respond--- just for the thrill of it.

Next day when she came from school, she opened her FB and opened the message. She tried to open the profile from which she had received the message the day before but what the hell! She could not open it. She instantly googled her problem and found that most likely the person had blocked her. She became so angry and frustrated.

By Segmund• 21 Jan 2012 20:18
Segmund

Man I've been right here but too busy with work and work-out. By the time I reach home, I am literally dead these days. Hope I will get some time now on.

By seasons• 21 Jan 2012 19:55
seasons

Hey doc, where have you been? Its been a long time :)

By Segmund• 21 Jan 2012 19:50
Rating: 3/5
Segmund

Sadia was rather relieved by her mother’s way of going about the matter. Her mom, instead of imposing any decision upon her regarding her marriage, something which is the rule in that culture rather than the exception, gave her the choice to decide. She told her she had known Masooma and Sajjawal for a long time and that they were very good people. She told her she was not sure about their son but, should she decide to accept, they would run a background search on him to find out what kind of person he is. Seemingly, mom had no objection; in fact, she was tacitly endorsing the proposal.

Sadia simply did not know how to to respond. Since she knew it was extremely important for a girl of her age, in her culture, to secure a proposal, to get married at the earliest. She knew rejecting an otherwise genuine proposal could cause her many problems. First, and perhaps most important, she would not get another proposal, as good, later. Second, saying no to a proposal in her society would suggest she liked someone else--- something considered loathsome, despicable and all the more unforgivable. Also her mother was happy about this proposal. Despite all this, she still was being tossed on the horns of a dilemma and she was far from being decisive.

She had Kamal in her life. Although it was very difficult for her to get married to Kamal, as things stood, she still did not want to let her thought go away from her mind. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she still clung to the hope of making Kamal her life-partner.

The next few days were really disturbing for Sadia. She simply did not know what to do. Finally, she decided to inform Kamal about this. But before she could write to him, she disclosed the matter with Zunaira. For some crazy reason, Zunaira was jealous. How she could get a proposal, and not her, she thought. Although they were not related in any way, and Sadia’s getting married would not affect Zunaira’s own chances in any way, she still felt bad. And instead of giving her any honest advice, she plainly told her to say no to the proposal citing the reason of her young age. “Why should you shackle your feet so early on, you are a free bird and deserve to remain like this, at least for a few more years,” she told her.

When Sadia informed Kamal, she was not at all happy to know his answer. Kamal told Sadia she should seriously consider the relation, and if worth it, go for it. She further went on to say that he had been thinking over their relation and, it would appear to him, it was rather far from being easy for them to unite. He said he would still wish to give it a try to get married to her but the chances of anything like this happening were rather thin, not because he or she did not want but only because of the circumstances that surrounded them both.

By just201025• 16 Jan 2012 00:38
just201025

Segmund, what happened dear to you? Where is the remaining part?

By just201025• 12 Jan 2012 17:36
just201025

no man please we are waiting for the rest of the story eagerly :(

By seasons• 11 Jan 2012 16:10
seasons

Hey Doc,where are you??

By Lady in black• 11 Jan 2012 16:07
Lady in black

Segmund u always leave ur stories hanging...That's not fair...We as the readers want the complete stories or you should not start them on the first place :(

By Xena• 8 Jan 2012 17:53
Xena

segment.... Where is he?:-(

By RAK• 28 Dec 2011 10:27
RAK

Has Segmund been kidnapped??

When will he complete this story :(

By ratheesh83• 28 Dec 2011 10:25
ratheesh83

There's never gone be an ending...

By princess_khan• 23 Dec 2011 00:16
princess_khan

Nice story.. Waitin fr de continuation..

By mariecor• 22 Dec 2011 10:43
mariecor

Doc, where are you? Continue the story please.

By idhem27• 22 Dec 2011 09:59
idhem27

And then, Kamal wearing his blue and red superman suit flew to Sadia and saved her from horrible Masooma Auntie...

BTW this story is very nice; thank you segmund

By ratheesh83• 21 Dec 2011 12:49
ratheesh83

...

By Segmund• 20 Dec 2011 14:29
Segmund

Completely lost she still lay in her bed when her mother entered the room. Her mother asked her to get dressed and be ready to meet Masooma auntie. Sadia knew what it was all about, yet she asked. “Meet her for what? I am so tired. I want to sleep.” Mom told her Masooma auntie had come to ask her hand in marriage. This was not the first time someone has come for a proposal. Every now and then Sadia would get these proposals. And what is interesting was the fact that Sadia’s mom welcomed everyone, served them well during the stay and at the end always asks them for some time to think. Later, however, she always said no in a polite way. “Her dad wants her to finish her studies before her engagement or marriage.” She would tell the family on phone.

This time round it appeared a bit different. Mom never asked Sadia to dress well or even come before the families that had come with a proposal. Sadia was scared when mom told her she should wear a new suit, even specifying which one exactly, and that she should sit with Masooma auntie, and even talk politely. Sadia did not have the courage to ask mom if she was seriously considering this relation for her. She was very scared by smell of it. She wondered how she would ever say no if the family decided on a yes.

Sadia wore her green tunic, which her uncle bought for her in Italy, a few months back, and which she never thought she would ever wear, since she was the kind of girls who preferred to dress traditionally, albeit expensively, and mostly wore loose shalwar qameez. Probably mom did not want Masooma to reaffirm the conclusion of the rest of the family about Sadia who thought she was too mundane. Sadia looked unusually pretty in her green tunic and blue jeans. She did, however, feel a little shy when she sat in front of Masooma auntie. In fact, she felt as if she was a sort of display item, made more attractive by finishing for a prospective buyer.

Masooma auntie was not a bad person. She was a school principal, and her husband, Sajjawal uncle, was an architect. They had lived about 15 years in Norway and probably that was why they were visibly more liberal and sort of open minded. Masooma auntie asked about Sadia’s study and her routine. She was pleased to know Sadia was doing very good in the class and appreciated her performance. She then started telling her about the luxurious life that they were living. Sadia knew by no means Masooma auntie’s lifestyle was more luxurious than her, even not close, yet she had to smile and, sometimes express through her facial expression some amazement at things like her son driving a BMW and uncle buying a new villa for him.

When Masooma auntie left, Sadia was filled with nervousness. She did not know if mom had already said yes, or given some hope to her for the proposal. She however still lacked the nerve to ask.

By batignawong• 20 Dec 2011 14:21
batignawong

segmund, continue please, waiting now for your nice story.. bravo!

By dota• 20 Dec 2011 13:31
dota

waiting mode =(

By anonymous• 20 Dec 2011 11:19
anonymous

Good skills doc, keep it up please!

By hasnadeen• 20 Dec 2011 11:13
hasnadeen

Doc u r still asleep???? wake up & post the balance story ASAP :(

By SMY• 19 Dec 2011 16:53
SMY

hy i m new here but i really liked ur story...waiting for next chapter :)

By Segmund• 19 Dec 2011 16:04
Segmund

I will try to speed up the writing process; I'm just back from work and I am dead tired. Let me take a nap and then I will sure work at it.

By yurizacky• 19 Dec 2011 15:31
yurizacky

where are you Segmund?... still have a hang-over from yesterday's event?

....im waiting for the next part.

By afrinnabees• 19 Dec 2011 15:30
Rating: 2/5
afrinnabees

its too slow......Start posting it in good Time intervals.. not to make us wait so badly...

By hasnadeen• 19 Dec 2011 12:24
hasnadeen

Waiting for the next chapter :(

By mariecor• 18 Dec 2011 08:06
mariecor

I can relate to the story as I have read some articles about the arranged marriages in Pakistan & India.

Keep going Segmund. I will anticipate the ending of your novel.

By General• 17 Dec 2011 23:54
General

Good going segmund. Haven't read any pakistani literature so far. Good to see some facts about pakistani culture unfold.

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 22:10
Segmund

Sadia was left high and dry by this message. On the one hand, she did not get any solid reply from Kamal which just added to her already teeming uncertainty. On the other hand, she was puzzled by the problem Kamal was going through. She sympathized with the girl who was to become a scapegoat for settling a family dispute. But she did not know what to say to Kamal now. It had been so many days almost a month now Sadia had not slept with her doll folded in her arms. Perhaps life was teaching her how to behave more maturely: perhaps the mental upheaval was making it impossible for her to enjoy life in her usual way.

One morning while Sadia was getting ready for school, someone called on her home landline. She received the call, it was Masooma Auntie, she asked Sadia to call her mother. While mom was talking she could deduce that Masooma auntie wanted to visit that afternoon. In fact, it was something to do with Sadia because she heard her mother saying, “oh yes, she is back by 3 oclock but you better come early so you can have your lunch with us.” Sadia was not surprised. She could know from the looks her cousin, Farhan, Masooma auntie’s son, gave her every time he saw her, that he was interested in her. Farhan was a shy person like Sadia and probably never had the courage to speak with Sadia. He did say hi-hello to her occasionally though. But she had often caught him, staring at her, very meekly and cleverly, and the way he would lower his eyes quickly upon being caught clearly suggested, he had something which made him nervous.

Sadia could not concentrate on the lesson in her class. Miss Aasia was very crossed at her when she asked her to read a question, and she only kept staring at nothing in particular. She told her it was very unlike her and that she should be very careful as the principal and all the teachers had such high hopes of her to get a top position in the upcoming boards examination. It was after being grilled by miss Aasyia that Sadia realized how she had forgotten completely about her exam. She thought if she had not been reminded, probably, she would have not remembered the whole two remaining months.

All the day Sadia kept on thinking about the expected visit of Masooma auntie. She was almost certain that the purpose of the visit was her proposal. She did not know how her parents would respond. She started praying in her heart. She prayed that her parents decline clearly if there is any proposal from Masooma auntie’s side.

It did not take long for her suspicions to be confirmed. The person who opened the gate for her, her maid Lalina, a thirty five year old chatter-box, to her everything as soon as she opened the gate. “Sadia baji (baji is ideally used for someone who is older, out of respect, but since maids are thought of as too low, out of respect they would call even a 19 year old a baji), some people are here to ask your hand in marriage. I cannot wait to see baji’s hands made beautiful with henna. My cute baji is going to get married.” Without saying anything to Lalina, Sadia went straight to her room and plunged to her comfortable bed, face down almost burying herself there for a moment. She still had her shoes and white school uniform on as she lay there for some time, completely lost.

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 22:10
Segmund

Sadia was left high and dry by this message. On the one hand, she did not get any solid reply from Kamal which just added to her already teeming uncertainty. On the other hand, she was puzzled by the problem Kamal was going through. She sympathized with the girl who was to become a scapegoat for settling a family dispute. But she did not know what to say to Kamal now. It had been so many days almost a month now Sadia had not slept with her doll folded in her arms. Perhaps life was teaching her how to behave more maturely: perhaps the mental upheaval was making it impossible for her to enjoy life in her usual way.

One morning while Sadia was getting ready for school, someone called on her home landline. She received the call, it was Masooma Auntie, she asked Sadia to call her mother. While mom was talking she could deduce that Masooma auntie wanted to visit that afternoon. In fact, it was something to do with Sadia because she heard her mother saying, “oh yes, she is back by 3 oclock but you better come early so you can have your lunch with us.” Sadia was not surprised. She could know from the looks her cousin, Farhan, Masooma auntie’s son, gave her every time he saw her, that he was interested in her. Farhan was a shy person like Sadia and probably never had the courage to speak with Sadia. He did say hi-hello to her occasionally though. But she had often caught him, staring at her, very meekly and cleverly, and the way he would lower his eyes quickly upon being caught clearly suggested, he had something which made him nervous.

Sadia could not concentrate on the lesson in her class. Miss Aasia was very crossed at her when she asked her to read a question, and she only kept staring at nothing in particular. She told her it was very unlike her and that she should be very careful as the principal and all the teachers had such high hopes of her to get a top position in the upcoming boards examination. It was after being grilled by miss Aasyia that Sadia realized how she had forgotten completely about her exam. She thought if she had not been reminded, probably, she would have not remembered the whole two remaining months.

All the day Sadia kept on thinking about the expected visit of Masooma auntie. She was almost certain that the purpose of the visit was her proposal. She did not know how her parents would respond. She started praying in her heart. She prayed that her parents decline clearly if there is any proposal from Masooma auntie’s side.

It did not take long for her suspicions to be confirmed. The person who opened the gate for her, her maid Lalina, a thirty five year old chatter-box, to her everything as soon as she opened the gate. “Sadia baji (baji is ideally used for someone who is older, out of respect, but since maids are thought of as too low, out of respect they would call even a 19 year old a baji), some people are here to ask your hand in marriage. I cannot wait to see baji’s hands made beautiful with henna. My cute baji is going to get married.” Without saying anything to Lalina, Sadia went straight to her room and plunged to her comfortable bed, face down almost burying herself there for a moment. She still had her shoes and white school uniform on as she lay there for some time, completely lost.

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 21:41
Segmund

Yes, that is right. No society is free from social evils. I was amazed to see a day before yesterday that twenty percent of women get raped in the United States.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16192494

In one form or the other, social evils raise their ugly heads.

In this story, you will see how this so-called law ruins the life of a woman.

By nomerci• 17 Dec 2011 21:16
nomerci

anyhow, Segmund, I must apologize, I hijacked your thread.

Please do carry on with your story.

By stealth• 17 Dec 2011 21:12
stealth

nm, thats the tribal law for you in the subcontinent - Pakistan and North India....

By nomerci• 17 Dec 2011 21:08
nomerci

Segmund, I don't really know hoew it can be seen with those people. For me doing wrong on purpose, as it seems to be the case with people who do what you have described above, is not backwards, it is nasty. Especially if it involves other people getting hurt.

IMHO backwardness needs education, doing wrong on purpose warrants punishment.

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 21:03
Segmund

And you think this deliberate ignoring means something else than backwardness.

By nomerci• 17 Dec 2011 20:55
nomerci

Segmund, sadly it is , by far, not the first time I heard of this practice.

I also find that the "excuse" of a society being backwards is a bit worn out. It is simply a matter of knowing right from wrong...and that people DO know...they just choose to ignore that knowledge.

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 20:52
Segmund

I am sure it is the first time you are hearing this nomerci. But this is a practice not as uncommon as it sounds. This happens in backward societies.

By nomerci• 17 Dec 2011 20:40
nomerci

Hang on..he is supposed to marry a 12 year old girl??? WTH?

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 19:53
Segmund

There are many events in the womb of time, which will be delivered.

By mariecor• 17 Dec 2011 19:48
mariecor

The story is getting complicated now. Hmmm...what will gonna happen next?

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 19:36
Segmund

We human beings are so fallible indeed. We take mere shadows for true substances. Sadia had never felt so desperate about anyone in her life. Even two years before when she had a secret crush on her biology teacher, and when she spent about a couple months, completely absorbed in the man’s fancy, she never was so overwhelmed. At that time, probably she was more certain. She knew that her teacher would never allow any intimacy between the two of them. She also knew that it was against the norms of the society and the customs of her family to act in an indecent way. Therefore her secret infatuation was born and it died away without anyone knowing about it.

This time it was different indeed. Kamal’s thought seemed to obsess her mind and despite her trying to get him out of his head, she was unable to put him off his mind. What was really gnawing at her peace of mind was the uncertainty as to how much Kamal was serious. As a matter fact, in the start he had been very enthusiastic about the virtual relations. But his enthusiasm seemed to have faded away a few weeks later. It was evident even from the length of his messages to her. Initially every message was at least three to four paragraphs. Now, even the longest one hardly ever exceeded a paragraph.

Sadia could not take it anymore. She finally made up her mind to ask Kamal to speak his mind. She wrote this message to him:

Hello Kamal. I am so sorry for writing a silly message like this. Silly because by reading it, I am sure, you would think of me as someone so insecure. Perhaps you would think I am desperate. But I do not care. I have been taking you very seriously, and it is this seriousness which emboldens me to ask you this: do you have any feelings for me? Please do not hesitate to tell me what is in your heart. I just want to know the truth. Please.

Sadia waited for a response for almost a good few days. Kamal seemed to have forgotten her. She felt bad. She felt bad not just because he was not responding but also because she felt stupid about being so childish to attach feelings to a FB relation like that. Finally came the most awaited reply:

Dearest Sadia, I know you must be wondering how my attitude has changed toward you. You must be thinking why I did not ask for your picture even though I acceded to your condition of showing you my webcam. But I have a reason. It is a problem--- a family problem so to say. My parents want me to get married to a certain girl. And I am refusing. This has made my life hell. For the last one month, my dad and mom are not talking to me as usual. It is not that I dont want to act according to my parents will, but it is because I am refusing in principle. It is a long story, and I do not know if you would be interested in knowing it; however, to cut it short, my uncle had been killed by someone in the family of that girl. Now, the two families are coming to terms and are about to enter a settlement. And one part of the settlement is that someone from our family marries a girl (a punitive measure) for the family. The girl is 12 year old. How can I say yes? This is one problem I am having. There are others but I do not want to cudgel your head with my problems. I just want to let you know to excuse me for these days and not to feel that I am intentionally ignoring you. I hope that you understand.

By mariecor• 17 Dec 2011 19:25
mariecor

Doc, it's ok...just want to read your story before I sleep.

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 19:04
Segmund

Marie, I am sorry I had a real busy day. Just got back, let me continue with my story telling now. Thanks everyone for liking.

Ghazal, no, I was born about ten thousand years ago.

By razz77• 17 Dec 2011 18:23
razz77

hmmmmmmmm.......... nice thread

By ghazalz• 17 Dec 2011 17:09
ghazalz

Ow...You're getting younger day by day!

By ghazalz• 17 Dec 2011 16:25
ghazalz

I don't have any idea, may be you're already into, but start writing novels Segmund!

By afrinnabees• 17 Dec 2011 15:50
afrinnabees

I am on reading Mode in Ql and this was perfect pass time... Do continue...

By General• 17 Dec 2011 12:00
General

let him/her say hello first sort of damn things but quite normal never allow the involved express their true feelings to each other..sad but true..and sadly these things do occur betwen those who do have some real feelings. others just dont care but have the fun and go

By mariecor• 17 Dec 2011 11:26
mariecor

ok...thanks!

By Segmund• 17 Dec 2011 11:25
Segmund

Heavens! I did not even remember this story. I will try to write my next 500 words shortly.

By mariecor• 17 Dec 2011 10:50
mariecor

Doc, next chapter please! Im on reading mode today.

By Segmund• 15 Dec 2011 18:21
Rating: 3/5
Segmund

Sadia was already on skype when Kamal came online. Curiously, he did not say hi even after, apparently, finding out that she was online. For a good few minutes, Sadia wondered why the hell he was not messaging, then she tried to read something else on the net, as if trying to forget about him, or as if trying to show that she does not care whether he says hi or not. Of course, there was no one who could see her impatience and even if she could have continued looking at the chat window with Kamal waiting for his hi, she would have not been seen by anyone. Perhaps, she herself wanted to avoid the feeling of not being liked by Kamal anymore.

Finally, she thought she would say hi and if he did not reply, she would just sign out.

Sadia: Hi.

A pause of two minutes, seeming as if two hours, Sadia almost touching the sign out button.

Kamal: Hello Sadia, how are you?

Sadia was surprised why, if he was present, he was not responding.

Sadia: I am good, how are you?

Kamal: I am fine. When did you come online?

Sadia: I was online before you came.

Kamal: But you did not say hi to me?

Sadia: Nor did you!!!!!!

After hitting the send button, Sadia felt probably there was no need to say so, or at least no need to add that many exclamation marks, since he would probably think she was so desperate.

Kamal: But I never saw you my lovely.

Sadia: How come, did I appear offline?

Kamal: No, actually, I came online to check my Email. Our teacher had sent an assignment to us, and I just turned on my laptop without realizing that my skype had automatically signed in.

Sadia had a sweet-sour feeling at this answer. She was relieved to know that Kamal had not deliberately avoided her. But she was distraught as to why he had not come online to chat with her first thing.

They chatted for about an hour and then he said he wanted to complete his assignment and would come online again. There was not a mention of Sadia’s picture again.

Somehow Sadia did not like why he was being so casual. She felt the two-week separation had probably dampened Kamal’s feelings for her, if there had been any real feelings at all. When Kamal signed out, she again started to think of him. This time it was not like her day-dream. She had a kind of despair on her face and that smile which had come to her face before was nowhere in sight. She wondered if it was worth any while to think of Kamal the way she did. She was still absorbed in these thoughts when Zunaira called. She did not feel like talking to her. Not because she did not like talking to Zunaira, but because she felt she would not be able to talk as fondly of Kamal as she routinely did.

By Segmund• 15 Dec 2011 17:55
Segmund

No, wonder why got lost... your eyesight is so weak!

By Segmund• 15 Dec 2011 17:53
Segmund

just2010

Thank you my dear friend. :)

Cupid...

I am sorry, I could not get you, but thanks for liking my stories.

Damsel...

I am sorry but I can not answer you anything about my patients.

By Captain_Lost• 15 Dec 2011 17:51
Captain_Lost

u means shakesBEARD ...the famous pirate?? :O

By damselindistress• 15 Dec 2011 17:36
damselindistress

Are'nt you're patients stories confidential? :P lol j/k

By Cupid s_Victim• 15 Dec 2011 17:29
Cupid s_Victim

Hmmm, ok... All your stories are good the only thing that I'm not a fan off were the endings but this one so far is the only one with a villain or sort off. Everybody hates a happy ending story especially the heart broken ones though in realty every one just wants to be inspired, in my opinion...

By just201025• 15 Dec 2011 17:24
just201025

carry on segmund really liking it ......and the twist too

By Segmund• 15 Dec 2011 17:14
Segmund

It is too premature to call anyone a villain as yet, the story has more twists and turns to take, there are many developments which will be unfoleded. In the words of Shakespeare:

There are many events, in the womb of time, which will be delivered.

By Cupid s_Victim• 15 Dec 2011 16:27
Cupid s_Victim

I like this twist... A villain...

By Segmund• 15 Dec 2011 16:09
Segmund

Apart from everything else, the way Sadia had started to socialize with people on internet made a great revelation about her. She herself was probably never aware of herself. Although everyone thought she was not willing to or desirous of social interaction, it was not in actuality the case.

The fact is that Sadia did want to build relationships with other people around her. She, however, lacked the courage of facing rejection. It was perhaps why she never missed any parties or school gatherings and always groomed herself, rather excessively, during these events. The only thing which was peculiar about her was her not socializing with others. She was too scared to face people. To the extent, that even if someone would have approached her, she would have become so nervous that the other person would simply have to leave.

On facebook she was different. She knew no body would recognize her even if they somehow rejected her. So she continued her virtual interaction, in some way, to make for what was missing from her real life.

During her chat with Zunaira, Sadia never tired of describing and re-describing the stories of Kamal to her. She told her how handsome he looked, how well-behaved his personality was and what a successful future awaited him. Although Zunaira was married, her troubled personal life made her more vulnerable to fall for a man other than her husband. She fell in love with Kamal even without ever seeing or talking to him, and she kept this secret from Sadia.

Zunaira had a plan. She thought it would be difficult to reach Kamal directly for various reasons. First, he might not like to talk to a married girl in the first place. Second, he might just not like her looks. Third, this was even very dangerous and unsafe for her given the circumstances of her family, her husband was a landlord who kept many servants in his house and who was so cruel that once he set dogs at one of his maids who tried to elope with another servant. He would simply kill her if he found out that she felt something for him.

The plan was to reach Kamal through Sadia. Zunaira intended that if she is able to convince Sadia to meet Kamal in person, she could then invite her as her school friend accompanied by her "husband". In this fashion, she will also set a trap for capturing Kamal’s heart.

Sadia and Zunaira exchanged phone numbers the same week and their interaction afterwards was mainly through phonic conversations rather than Facebook messages. Zunaira was a talker, Sadia a listener, the duo had such compatibility. Zunaira suggested that Sadia meets Kamal. She said she was scared lest something wrong should happen. Zunaira reassured her. She told her she can always help her in calling her home and telling her parents that she wanted to see Sadia on the day that she might want to date Kamal. Two weeks passed and Kamal was back.

By ratheesh83• 15 Dec 2011 11:12
ratheesh83

..

By Captain_Lost• 15 Dec 2011 10:28
Captain_Lost

ohh come on...is there any Cyber Crime going to happen in this story?? :D

By blue_rose• 15 Dec 2011 08:34
blue_rose

lol guys if u can guess the story..then he can change the remaining story.

By mariecor• 15 Dec 2011 08:24
mariecor

Im sure, there will be love triangle.

By yurizacky• 15 Dec 2011 08:22
yurizacky

...and now comes Zunaira???, will there be a love triangle happening in the future? hhhmm...

Segmund...you always keep us hanging. but im still waiting. cheers!

By Segmund• 15 Dec 2011 01:10
Rating: 3/5
Segmund

One day while sitting in an easy chair in the garden of her palace-like house, Sadia was carried away by some deep thought. While thinking of her virtual relationship, she drifted into day-dreaming. A child-like smile ran across her face and seemed to linger on there throughout her fantasy. She imagined herself being in the company of Kamal. In this hypothetical world, she was the princess and Kamal her prince. She fancied that Kamal had proposed to her, her family had agreed and they were married. Her heart jumped into joy as she fancied herself to be the mom of kids and that she had to look after a house herself.

But the damned companion of sweet hope, uncertainty, is never too late to arrive. No sooner than she realized that all she was doing was but day dreaming, her smile disappeared instantly and her face became somewhat tense. She even sort of scolded herself, within her mind, how foolish it was of her to think like that. A man whom she had never met can never be reliably regarded as a husband, she thought. Her self-reproach caused her to get up from the chair and busy herself with her doll in the room.

But hugging the doll too felt rather different. She could not let go the thought of Kamal from her heart. She could not help imagining Kamal instead of her doll. Finally, she lied down beside her large doll and while putting one of her arms around her doll, Kamal still in her ideation, she went to sleep.

After waking up when she opened her FB to read a reply from Kamal. When she found that he was going to leave town for two weeks, on a college tour, she replied to him by saying “have a nice trip” and a smiley. Deep inside her felt as if Kamal was going away from her. Although they never met and had not yet planned to meet, she felt as if the increase of the distance had some symbolic meaning for her.

The correspondence with Kamal had made Sadia almost a FB addict. When he left, he stopped responding as he did not have access to internet then. Sadia could not help reading and re-reading the messages she had sent to and received from Kamal. She had heard from her classmates about a Facebook game called Guess the Sketch. She wanted to try it and see if she would be able to pass the time with it. After playing the game for a few times, she actually liked it and decided to play it regularly.

The next day while she was playing Guess the Sketch, she received a personal message from a girl saying to her, ‘hey, let us cheat on them, it is fun’. She did not get the message at first. Later the other person explained to her that cheating means two people could privately share the answer and then write it and one of the two will always win. She kind of liked the idea for the sake of fun.

The other girl, Zunaira, was really a talkative person and seemed to be so active on chat. She would write five or six lines before Sadia could hardly finish typing one. Zunaira and Sadia became friends, they exchanged msns and started to chat. As is the habit of girls, both of them started to share feelings with each other. Sadia told her how she has been overly thinking of a guy she met had met some days back on Facebook. Zunaira shared her experience as the wife of rich landlord, 46, more than twice her age, and how she managed to survive by socializing with people on internet.

By just201025• 14 Dec 2011 22:06
just201025

Im lovin it nice segmund :) really nice

By just201025• 14 Dec 2011 22:05
just201025

Seriously interesting, Im lovin it ...nice segmund:) waiting for next ......

By Lilyofthevalley• 14 Dec 2011 20:38
Lilyofthevalley

Segmund you are a good story teller... continue with yr story

By mariecor• 14 Dec 2011 20:06
mariecor

any more chapter before i sleep?

By Segmund• 14 Dec 2011 19:24
Segmund

For a good couple of days Sadia kept on being tossed on the horns of the dilemma of whether to share a picture or not. Finally, she thought about something. She thought it would be a better idea to see him through a live webcam before sending her picture. It was possible, she thought, that he was not the same person whose pictures were on the profile. Kamal agreed. She made a skype id and they specified some certain time on which to chat.

Sadia was scared. No one in her family knew she was in touch with Kamal. No one even knew she was on FB. Her name on FB was Viola Khan and it was under this pseudonym that she interacted with people on different pages. So far she was not particularly concerned. But chatting with a guy for the first time was certainly unnerving for her to some extent.

She had to lock the door from inside in order to make sure no one would catch her unawares. It was decided that they would chat at 11 oclock in the night. She was online almost five minutes prior to that time. Kamal came online after twenty minutes.

Kamal: Hey, nice to see you here, Viola.

Sadia: Hello, thanks.

K: How are you doing?

S: I'm good; you?

K: Pretty good; thanks. So you wanted to see if I am really the person or not?

S: Well, what?

K: I mean you told me in the message that you were a little reluctant to share your photo but would happily do so if you knew a little more about myself.

S: That is right. Actually, I thought it would make me feel safer if I could see you in live chat.

K: Ahan, alright.

S: OK.

K: I am going to turn on my webcam now. Is that fine with you?

S: Yep, sure.

K: Can you see me?

S: [a pause in the usual pace of the chat, Sadia is looking at the picture, he is the same person for sure, only, perhaps, looking even nicer, than his still picture. He is wearing a white T-shirt and his hair is so sweetly disturbed giving such casualness to his look, Sadia realizing that she has not responded for longer than she should have, eagerly touches her fingers to the key board] Oh, yes I can.

K: Ahan fine. You do not have a cam right?

S: Well, if you mean a webcam, then yes I do not have.

The chat continued, incredibly, for 7 hours and Sadia was only made to realize this by the sounds of the her door bell ringing. The milkman was at the door to deliver milk.

In their chat, Sadia and Kamal talked about so many things. Mostly they seemed so curious to know more about each other. Both said in the end that they did not want to finish the chat and wished they could have talked more.

Kamal did not ask again for her picture. Although he kept on exchanging messages with her, he did not mention her photo again. Sadia was painfully aware of this. In fact, she had already decided on which photo to share with him. But she never wanted to send it unless he had asked for it.

By General• 14 Dec 2011 18:36
General

And u r killing ur time on ql. gud 4u.

try selling your stories to ramgopal verma. yeah ur 1st story was gud. he can kake movies like wo kaun thi, wo kaali raath, karna(?) mana hai,etc

By blue_rose• 14 Dec 2011 12:08
blue_rose

lolzz captain lost

By Captain_Lost• 14 Dec 2011 12:03
Rating: 5/5
Captain_Lost

and then they made frozen chicken out of Sadia.. Happy Ending

By ratheesh83• 14 Dec 2011 12:00
ratheesh83

we want to read the rest. . .

By yurizacky• 14 Dec 2011 11:36
yurizacky

.... next chapter please.

By mariecor• 14 Dec 2011 11:17
mariecor

Segmund is keeping us hanging...it is like reading commicks...waiting for the next issue to come out.

By ratheesh83• 14 Dec 2011 11:15
ratheesh83

..

By Segmund• 14 Dec 2011 10:26
Segmund

Thank you both indeed, my good friends. Thank you Ratheesh and blue as well.

By Segmund• 14 Dec 2011 10:25
Segmund

After exactly three days, in which time Sadia's impatience had not died off a single bit, the reply came. This was what it said:

"Thank you Sadia for replying. True I do not know you in real life, but like a window in your heart, your comments have always made me believe your heart is beautiful. I have been following your comments with a religious punctuality and, although I never responded to them, I have always liked them. I wish we could know more about each other."

Sadia's unease was released to a good extent after she got the reply, yet it was not over, in fact, in some sort, her discomfort had multiplied. She was not sure if it was ok to develop that kind of feeling for a stranger whom she had not even seen. She replied:

"Well, thanks but I do not think I am any different from the other people. I opened a facebook account only to kill time. Anyways, I am a tenth grade student, and you?"

Kamal replied:

"Same here, I too use Facebook to kill time. And nice to know that you are a student. I am also a college student. May I know your hobbies? Can you please tell me what is your schedule on a routine day? BTW, I like it so much to remain in communication with you."

The next one week or so passed in this frenzy exchange of message. At first it was two to three messages per week, then a message daily and then several ones in one day.

One day, Sadia got a message from Kamal:

"I know Sado (that was her nickname at home, and Kamal too had started using it for her) you belong to a very conservative family and that you have never talked to a guy before; however, I can not anymore suppress my urge to see your photo. Can you please bless me with the pleasure of seeing your face?"

Sadia was too scared to send him a photo. Although, deep inside, she always wanted to let him know how she looked, not to make him feel that she was so beautiful but to satisfy her own curiousity as to how she appeared if looked at through the eyes of a man.

No matter how beautiful Sadia was to everyone, she herself always felt she was not beautiful enough, if beautiful at all. Ever since she was a little child, she felt she was not goog looking. As a child, some of her class fellows told her she was too fair, they told her skin was too white to be called pretty. And this created a sense of inferiority in Sadia. She always believed there was a possibility that she was too fair--- to the point of albinism (although this was most certainly not the case, and she was amazingly fair skinned). She always wondered if it was possible for her to be reassured that she was indeed pretty. That her nose was not too short, as she thought, that her lips were not too thin as she believed, that her she was not too fat as she felt (her weight was about 55 kgs and height 5'6"), and most of all that her overall appearance was not scary as opposed to pretty.

This was a good chance for Sadia to show a photo to Kamal to get an opinion from him. She initially thought the time had come at last when she would change her perception about her appearance and would start thinking that she is indeed good-looking. But her wishful thinking was soon cut short by the fear of being rated as plain or worse bad-looking. She almost choked on her saliva when she thought what if Kamal too pointed out the same flaws in her appearance that she believed were present in her. And what if he decide to quit the correspondence after finding her picture "horrible"?

By ratheesh83• 14 Dec 2011 08:33
ratheesh83

...

By hasnadeen• 14 Dec 2011 08:17
hasnadeen

Waiting for the rest of the story!!!!! :(

By blue_rose• 14 Dec 2011 08:14
blue_rose

nice story ...continue..

now i thanked god that i never used FB.

By chameleon• 14 Dec 2011 07:52
chameleon

Yeah Segmund....I like your bedtime stories and am entertained by them:)

By mariecor• 14 Dec 2011 07:47
mariecor

Segmund, where is the continuation?

By Segmund• 14 Dec 2011 00:53
Segmund

Thank you sweetest people! I will continue with the story. Actually, I have to complete my work and write the story in the breaks I get. I will try to write a few more paragraphs of it now.

By Princess Arora• 13 Dec 2011 23:02
Princess Arora

please continue with the story.

By damselindistress• 13 Dec 2011 22:46
damselindistress

It could be a story of a QL profile :(

Yeah, i know this is not a dating site. . . Lol

By AsinineThinker• 13 Dec 2011 22:45
AsinineThinker

How do you do that? You get the whole QL community hooked with your stories :D

By seasons• 13 Dec 2011 22:41
seasons

Was waiting for your story doc :)

By yurizacky• 13 Dec 2011 22:19
yurizacky

..........and then???

By Lady in black• 13 Dec 2011 22:08
Lady in black

Segmund, I do like ur stories but ur previous one was incomplete :(

By Segmund• 13 Dec 2011 21:59
Segmund

nomerci... well, life is not a movie scene. :D

chameleon... I hope you guys like my stories.

susan... yes it sure is.

By Segmund• 13 Dec 2011 21:56
Segmund

It was strange for a girl like Sadia, who neither sought nor seemed to enjoy any social interaction, to be so much moved by one single random FB message. It was not that the guy was so attractive that his loss was unbearable. Perhaps, it was the fact that she felt rejected which made her feel bad.

The next day, to her surprise, she found that Kamal’s profile was once again visible to her. She wondered why he would have blocked her. She then found out it was possible that he had deactivated his profile and had activated it again.

She sat to compose a reply. Before writing a single line reply and hitting the send button, she had to delete and rewrite the message a zillion times. What she finally wrote was this: “If you have not seen me, how can you say anything about my heart?” After sending this reply, she felt rather bad. It was because this message carried an air of intimacy and a sense of acquaintance. She thought it would have been better if she could have replied with something like “why” or “how do we know each other?”

After sending the message, Sadia just stuck to her computer and kept waiting for Kamal’s reply. “Why the hell is he not answering?” She thought to herself. “Has he disliked my message? Is he sending the same message to people randomly? Well he ever reply?”

By susan• 13 Dec 2011 21:40
susan

Why will he block her is it possible to block one from your account?

By susan• 13 Dec 2011 21:37
Rating: 4/5
susan

Why will he block her is that possible to block one from your FB account.

By chameleon• 13 Dec 2011 21:28
chameleon

Oh here we go again Segmund....Keeping us in suspense with your stories huh:)

By nomerci• 13 Dec 2011 21:26
nomerci

Will she marry her cousin then? As he is the one on Fb....;0

By Segmund• 13 Dec 2011 21:24
Segmund

That is not it, the story has not even started yet.

By Vegas• 13 Dec 2011 21:19
Vegas

:(

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