Des and I have decided to write a collaborative story exploring the emotional impact of online relationships.
There will be , I feel, perhaps more than a little authenticity to the story.

I have made a sister thread for comments, It would be good to have the continuity of the story on this thread.


The story begins here.

Good night sleep well. cya :)x

He sat back thinking, she Was an interesting woman. She had painted a picture in his imagination,
that did something on a level he didn't expect.

It was early August but a damp northeaserly wind made it feel anything but warm.
He shivered. How long had he been sat at the computer? In the background Beth Hart sang, 'caught out in the rain'.
He opened the picture that she had sent him. and looked at her for a couple of minutes . She WAS an interesting woman. Beth Hart
began to sing,'I'd rather go blind'. One thing was for sure, she had caught his attention. after a while Beth began to sing,
'close to my fire'.I was a half an hour before he finaly got up and made something to eat. Thinking, she knows how it goes
with LDR's. I am new to this. How exciting! No phreremones flying around. There was something that had nothing to do with pheremones
or chemistry or needyness or lust. Something he couldn't easily find words for. Something that still made him smile.
He looked up the distance, 7,357 miles and laughed. Couldn't she have been a little bit closer.
Later he began to think that he could be a complete fool. He laughed again. Beth Hart was singing, 'fire on the floor'.

“Des, I’ve made this harp from mainly drift wood!”. She was singing and smiling upon reading his warm messages, even early morning for her. The energy travels beyond any distance that can be measured. She never puts anything on her profile that will interest most guys. It is not a charming profile, instead of her intense statement. Well, no picture, no information, is a big No NO for most. However, they were not looking, so everything went smoothly.

She has fully considered the things evolved through communication and everything they shared; songs, jokes, knowledge, (tease even!), etc. They both project their life to the Universe, that our life issues are only tiny things. He said wit is one of her charms. He checked on her, when Mingle suspended her account. By that time, he has seen her photos.

Her mind flew to England, France, Spain, Cyprus, The Netherlands, of course her native country, and other places in the World. What a tremendous decade she has made with a British man, until he peacefully departed this life. Once she said to Steve, “Can you imagine, I never see any boundaries when I see a Sphere. I have only seen tiny dots that are interconnected, and we are there, Steve!”

The song “Butterflies” by Nana Mouskouri fading out when they closed their conversation by saying “Bon Appetite – Good Night”

*editing word 11-08-19 7.56 AM

It was the following day. they had been talking. wondering when it was that they had started saying 'we'! They had traced it back to
a certain time at about mid afternoon, his time, mid evening, her time. They had listened to various music for the past hour.
Including one lazy song that goes.. Here we are, stuck by this river. They had briefly imagined they were there. He had added a
meadow with tall grasses and trees, she had added some birds. And they had both agreed that there was a spanish guitarist somewhere nearby.
Maybe something fluttered in right there :)
something delicate, ineffable but at the same time fearless, free. It was somehow 'we' after that.
He had said goodnight and then sat and thought for a while. He thought about dots and 7000 mile lines and 20 hour flight times.
Then he thought about embarking fearlessly on a voyage into unknown territory, without a compass, with little chance of success and
every chance of ridicule. Which sounded like a lot of fun.. Eventually a thought took shape.
What are the odds that she would agree to something that he had in mind. Something that would cement their friendship and give an
online relationship reason to be.
At about eleven o clock he had written simply. I have an idea.

“Isn’t that great, Steve?” She was so excited with his idea to create a collaborative exploring the emotional impact of online relationships. Despite the pros and cons, not so many people on that site would be confident to establish LDRs, she noticed. They were listening to few songs whilst discussing about the idea. As normally when creating a writing, there are some rules to apply. They talked about the 5W+1H; What, Why, Who, Where, When, How; the outcomes, the impacts, the comments, the risks.

“Do you think it will be an interesting thread, Des?”, Steve asked. She said “Oh sure!”, whilst smiling. Writing a story as writing anything will need her full concentration. She could do it whilst listening to few songs. “Here we are, stuck by the river”, they imagined a real portrait of nature scenery surrounded them enjoying a lazy day. It must be a long way for them reaching each other in person. They might think to meet up either at Heathrow or somewhere in the middle of nowhere for him. She laughed herself.

Later, much later he began thinking objectively. He couldn't imagine a scenario where he would willingly embark on a LDR. Unless
it was a scenario where you are unattached and liked to travel. and someone else is in the same position, then mutual benefit
could result in a very positive experience. But this would be strongly reliant on knowing the other person well enough to have
reached a position of trust. Some things would need to be understood and agreed on from the start.
1. Real life relationships take priority. For example, if either of the parties embarks on a relationship in the
normal sense, then this takes priority over the long distance. In the holiday 2 or 3 times a year scenario.
2. That both parties agree to treat each other with respect and honesty at all times.
3. That both parties agree to enjoy the holiday and share ideas and decisions about activities.

He became aware that it could turn in to a long list. But parameters and or expectations of any relationship would need
to be brought into focus, clearly defined, understood and agreed upon. Steps would need to be followed, time invested.
Not a thing to be taken lightly.
The tune 'It's a long long way from Claire to here' sprang to mind and he you tubed it. He was in no rush. And not going anywhere
for a few months. We'll see. He smiled to himself. Mmmm Rotterdam or anywhere Liverpool or Rome.....Maybe not Liverpool. Thinking about it.
He dropped a couple of you tube links in a message for her to pick up in the morning.

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.” , one of her favourite quotes by Anais Nin.

She was listening to few songs he sent in her morning. She read his long message and thought about wondrous trips they may have. To see the colour of life, you have to travel anywhere you can, where you can meet local people and have some chats with them. Sometimes, we may not hope for a neat surrounding when we travel to some certain spots in the world. That is how it is. We have to think that experience is giving the most valuable things in life; knowledge transformation, language shared, culture and custom exchange, mutual habit, and so on.

Steve constructed a long way scenario that has to be agreed by both of them. She has agreed with all the rules applied, although few deletions were needed lol. It’s not always easy to put scenario generated from two heads; theirs are mostly cool though lol. Currently, she and him seem to prioritize the real life (although the life of theirs over the internet is surely real lol). Some clauses made them laugh during the discussion. Definitely because they have reached the phase of maturity to learn all the wisdoms (she so hoped lol).

The youtube channel kept playing the songs from him, she enjoyed. “Steve, have the courage. Be brave.”, she laughed at his response “Wise words. Another of your charms lol”.


*editing tenses