Term 2 Blog Week 8: Social Network Bad Experience

Write a short story about a teenager who goes missing shortly after joining a social network site.

Opening his email, John found an email reading," Are you a fan of anime? Join this social network!” Not knowing that the email was spam, he clicked on the link below. He was led to their network on Ning. He joined and started looking around the site.

John found several members of the social network with the same interest. His addiction in the social network increased and he would go online for at least 2 hours a day to chat with the various people. Funnily enough, he did not realise that it was always the same four or five boys that he chatted to. He made many friends online, and even gave out personal information such as his real name and address and that his father was a professor in a university. John did not realise the consequences of doing this just then. Little did he foresee the unexpected.

The “good friends” persuaded John to officially join their exclusive club for die-hard anime fans. It would also enable him to meet friends of the same interest and widen his circle of friends . They sounded convincing enough. John, thinking that this club would benefit him, agreed to meet up with two of the committee members from the club. The meeting place was none other than McDonalds along Bukit Timah Road, which was a stone’s throw away from his house. The two boys looked decent and unbelievably friendly. John was sold! He readily agreed when they asked for a $200 membership fee to the club. John dug out every last dollar from his wallet, which was his allowance for that month.

Feeling glad that he had finally joined a club where he can belong to, John smiled as he walked home. He received an email, asking him to meet those “friends” the next week and was elated. A nasty surprise awaited him. This time, they requested to meet at a quite, dilapidated house near Holland Village. At first, John was puzzled. But soon, in his eagerness to meet his “friends”, he ditched all his sensibility. Upon arrival at the deserted place, his “friends” immediately got to their act and asked John for more money, a whopping $10000.

“Ten thousand dollars?” exclaimed a surprised John. The looks of malice and wickedness in his friends, which he had never noticed before, soon sank in. He could feel the blood drain off his limbs and tension amounting within. He felt his knees go wobbly and adrenaline rush through his veins.

Soon, the “friends” turned aggressive and menacing. They admitted that they are thugs out to cheat innocent, rich and lonely schoolboys like John. They were big bullies pounding on him! With evil looks, they demanded that he call his parents for money. Unfortunately, his parents were not contactable as they were in a rural part of China. John pleaded with them and tears streamed down. They showed him no mercy and locked him in one of the dirty, smelly rooms before leaving. They warned him that unless they get their money, he would be left there to starve and meet his death.

John prayed fervently that help would arrive soon. But how? His parents are overseas. John looked out of the tiny window and wished to breathe the fresh air. He wanted very much some water and food. How he wished that he had not been so gullible. His parents had warned him many times and he always turned a deaf ear. If only he had heeded their advice, he would not be in this predicament. “If only I could get out as soon as possible,” John prayed, “I will always be obedient to my parents and think before I leap.”