[New Message From: Home]
I looked at the screen of my cell phone for a few long seconds. Then I opened the message.
[Happy New Year's Eve, Leon] the text message read. [Hope you're staying warm. Did you decide to go out tonight?]
I could hear water dripping from my kitchen sink. I pressed REPLY, and started typing:
[Yeah. Just arrived. Probably be busy for the next few hours.] The cursor blinked expectantly.
I hesitated, looked around my sparsely furnished apartment, then hit SEND.
The door to the stairs down the hall from me opened noisily, followed by dozens of booted feet clamoring up from the lobby. The dull thuds rattled a few of the pictures I had half-heartedly hung on the wall. I looked at them, and let myself feel guilty for lying to my family. They just wanted me to have a good time.
Spending New Year's Eve alone is hardly the way to break in a first apartment, they would have said. And they would have been right. But nevertheless, here I was. A lifelong shut-in continuing the pattern. I had a pile of unopened greeting cards on the kitchen table and didn't feel like sorting through them. Every time the phone rang or my cell buzzed, I would let myself hope it was an invitation someplace. But I had no reason to expect any, and none came.
The dripping from the leaky faucet in the kitchen was starting to get annoying. I debated getting up and turning it all the way off. I didn't particularly want to move from the couch in the living room where I had entrenched myself, but finally decided that the noise would drive me crazier even faster than isolation.
I swung my legs over and padded to the kitchen. As I pushed the faucet handle all the way down, I thought of a guy named Alex I had known in college. At the time, he had probably represented the exact opposite of me. He had concluded that life was meant to be lived with other people, and that college was the best time to do that. Personally, I had never cared for the guy. He drank too much, stayed up too much, slept around too much. I tried to feel superior by figuring that everything would catch up to Alex someday. It still hadn't, not that I knew of.
I preferred my own solitary existence most of the time. But at times like this, I had to wonder if maybe he wasn't on to something. It's not like I was having the time of my life now. I rarely left my apartment except to work and occasionally run errands. Maybe it was time to do things differently. Make a friend or two. Take a chance.
My train of thought was interrupted by the buzz of my phone. I picked it up.
[New Message From: Home]
Not amazing. I opened the message.
[Glad to hear it. Have fun, and be safe, okay?]
I thought about replying, but decided not to. Better that way.
Then I changed my mind. I started typing:
[Decided on my New Year's resolution. Goal: make some friends. Wish me luck!]
More indecision. I chewed my lip, then saved it as a draft. Maybe I would send it in the morning.
Then the phone buzzed again. A duplicate, I guessed. I picked up the phone.
[New Message From: Alex C.]
Speak of the devil, I thought. I didn't even remember putting him in my contacts list.
I opened the message:
[hope ur having a good xmas. find a hot girl & spend teh nite with her, k? l8er]
At first, I read the message, then let my eyes stare into the distance. Then I read it again.
Finally, I closed the message without replying, went over to my sofa, and plopped down.
The clock read just short of 10 pm. I doubted there was anything on TV I wanted to watch, and I hadn't gotten around to checking any light reading out of the library this week. Maybe I would call it an early night. Tomorrow, I would send my message, and see if I could find some way to get out of my apartment.
I decided I would sleep on the couch. It was more comfortable than my mattress anyway. My New Year's present to myself, I thought wryly, and closed my eyes.
***********
"Hey you," said a voice I couldn't place.
I opened my eyes, and with a start, realized that my apartment was gone. Instead of a sofa, I was nestled in a large, comfortable chair. The carpet's complexion had thickened, and had abandoned its usual tan color for sage. I was facing a corner, and the two intersecting walls had been replaced by floor-to-ceiling windows. The wind shrieked outside, sending dizzying icy particles every which way, flinging them against the windows and out of sight.
I craned my neck to see who had spoken, and noticed a fireplace silently roaring almost directly behind me. A doorway led into what looked like a dining room. A familiar face was standing in that doorway with a small smile on her face. Her name leaped to my lips even as I struggled to remember how I knew her.