Life sometimes has a way of taking you where you have no plans of going. In fact, it takes you back to where it all began. For better or for worse, who can say?
She grew up in a small town, just a few hours from the metropolis. For a few hours in terms of kilometres can almost take you back by a few decades in terms of cultures. Her mother had also grown up in a small town, much smaller than the one in which she grew up. Like her, her mother was educated there. She then got married to a man working in another small town and lived there ever after. Only, it was not a case of happily ever after. Because though the family had everything that money could buy, the mother was unhappy with the town, its facilities and its way of life.
She wanted a taste of life in the big cities. If not for herself, at least for her daughter. She planned things accordingly. After school, the daughter studied in a good college in a big city. Work took the daughter to a bigger city. A multinational company and a cosmopolitan city became her base. The mother and daughter were happy. Specially the mother because things were moving as she had planned. And then, the small town called the daughter back.
The big city lights were good. So was the life. But the girl yearned for friends. The neighbours were not friendly, colleagues business-like. So the girl turned to a new fangled way of finding like-minded people — the internet. A chatroom beckoned. The girl logged on. She found a friend — they made the connection in the virtual world. They exchanged information. Much like Meg Ryan in the movie, the girl logged on eagerly before work. Sure enough there was a message waiting for her. For the friend seemed to be just as eager to ‘talk’ to her. After a while, they exchanged names, job profiles, areas of interest and even brick-and-mortar addresses.
{{/usCountry}}The big city lights were good. So was the life. But the girl yearned for friends. The neighbours were not friendly, colleagues business-like. So the girl turned to a new fangled way of finding like-minded people — the internet. A chatroom beckoned. The girl logged on. She found a friend — they made the connection in the virtual world. They exchanged information. Much like Meg Ryan in the movie, the girl logged on eagerly before work. Sure enough there was a message waiting for her. For the friend seemed to be just as eager to ‘talk’ to her. After a while, they exchanged names, job profiles, areas of interest and even brick-and-mortar addresses.
{{/usCountry}}Soon they decided to meet. The first meeting led to the second, the third and the fourth. It was not long before that they realised they were suited to each other. So, it was not long before that they decided to tie the knot.
Then the scene shifted to the older generation. The parents were informed. After both the sets of parents exchanged addresses and phone numbers, they found out. He was the boy next door. The boy’s family stayed two houses away from the girl’s family. Yes, their parents lived in the same small town and they worked in the same town as the girl’s parents.
We do live in a small world after all!