Dear Diary Tales

Chapter -1 

Dear Diary,

In the time where the streets were empty and our days were filled with soundlessness by the roaring pandemic that had invaded our lives, when people were either sinking in the uncertainty that had unfolded before them, between taking breaks from keeping up with social media trends

which seemed like the only way to feel connected with the external world. It had been long since I had been out there ,both the real world and in the dating scene. One impulsive night, when I was a little intoxicated with 2 rounds of whiskey and the permissible dose of endorphin that it gave merit didn't seem like a bad idea to get on a dating app. I thought to myself, isn't this what my 20s are for. I had spent a few hours trying to frame a virtual idea of what kind of human I didn't mind spending a few forevers with. I found myself spoiled with the choice that these virtual matchmakers had to offer. As my fingers raced through a few swipes, I found this one guy that seemed to tick all the boxes in the list I had made in my head, or atleast for that evening. That instant, this message popped up on my screen and said that "we were a match"! How I fell back to the time I was a giggly teenager and set my phone aside to just feel that rush for a moment. I got on with my work later that evening , thinking to myself, that I had something to look forward to ,yet telling my heart to not get too excited, well that's at least what our adulting taught us.

I felt myself reacting to every "ping" my phone made, in hopes that this was going to change the monotonous loop I was a part of. "Ping", and this time it was a message from this certain guy named "ram" ,and I thought to myself ,"Ah, Finally, and his name had to be Ram? "I guess I knew I fantasized about a certain mythical romance ,but is god really trying to drop signs and decided to make them obvious now? The next few hours we exchanged numbers over a few cordial texts, only to realize he was an old school person just like me, who didn't believe texting really brought out the best in him.

I frantically finished all the my work, took a hot shower and positioned myself in a comfortable setting like the one they usually portray in love movies, for the call we had scheduled later that night. At quarter past 10 , my phone rang , I picked it up after a permissible period to not sound too desperate ,and then a voice said," Hello, Am i talking to sruthi?" Then what happened was something I hadn't felt for a long time, a rush of hot and cold water balloons bursting internally all at once, and I said" Hey,it's me! What's up?", in the most pretentious voice trying to seem casual and interested at the same time. The next few hours, and I literally mean 2 hours ,we spent talking made me wonder if this guy had a secret portal in which he knew exactly what I was thinking. It felt like I was talking to a 20-something male version of me , and it was such a sin that we hadn't met earlier. We spent hours talking about films, and stories and things that excite us and I felt like we had been friends for years.

We decided that this call only made us more curious about each other, and this virtual encounter wouldn't suffice. It was all rosy and pink until we realized we wouldn't be able to meet in the near future as the entire city was under a lockdown and it was physically impossible. I sighed to myself thinking," alright, It was too good to be true anyways, so let's switch back to reality and go with the usual pace of life

.

As I was sipping coffee the next morning I hear my phone ring at an annoyingly early hour, and I hear a voice ," hey, This might sounds creepy, but I'm one door away from the plans we made last night, would you mind opening the door if this still feels like one of the scenes they made in a cringe-worthy 90s film."