I hate people, but I LOVE gatherings

Xerok glanced around. Evening, and the town square couldn’t be more packed with people racing around the fountain, checking the mail and going in and out of the bank.

Through the vast crowd, Xerok spotted a red headed man with a long beard, wearing a beautifully decorated robe. It had been a long time, but he still recognized his friend.

“Sirlin, over here!” Xerok waved until Sirlin noticed, advancing through the crowd until he reached Xerok.

“Xerok! It’s so nice to see you again. Wow, that’s a cool armor. I see you improved since last time.”

“Yeah, been fighting a lot lately. I love the robe. It must have been difficult to get.”

“Yeah, I had to complete Uldaman four times until it dropped. Say, how is it going in Israel? I’ve heard there’s war again.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it… I don’t think it’s serious. Will probably be over in a few weeks. What about you? Any new?”

“Nah, you know, same old…”

“Are you still with Sharon?”

“Yeah, we’re still together. When are you going to find a girlfriend already?”

“Tom, dinner is ready.”
The young elf with the long blue hair stopped moving on the screen, the word ‘Xerok’, floating above his head. A text message suddenly appeared next to it: “Sorry man, I have to go eat dinner. I’ll be back later.”
The screen showed the game’s menu.

The darkened room flooded with blinding light as the wooden door opened. “Tom! Dinner is ready! How long do I have to call you?”

“I’m coming mom.”

“I don’t understand why every time I need to wait for you.”

“Because it’s not polite to just disappear on someone. How would you feel if you were speaking with someone on the phone, and suddenly they would hang up without saying anything?”

“That’s not the same…”

“Nevermind.”

When Tom entered the kitchen, his father and mother were already seated. A familiar smell filled his nostrils.
“Stuffed cabbage?”

“I thought you like it,” his mother said.

“Shh…! I want to hear this,” his father whispered, trying to listen to the news coming out from the small radio.

“I do like it. I just asked what it is.”

Tom didn’t listen to the news. All he could think about was his next quest. He found the real world so boring.

“So how was school today?” Tom’s father asked when the news ended.

“It was fine.”

“What do you mean fine? That’s all you have to say?”

“Yeah. It was fine.”

“I think that you should stop spending so much time alone with the computer, and start socializing more,” his mother said.

“First of all, I’m socializing enough, OK? I meet with friends quite a lot. And besides, I’m socializing all the time on the computer… Its not like I’m playing alone you know. I meet all kinds of people in this game. Just today I talked to a friend of mine from Belgium. He’s a really nice guy. I’m even discussing Israel and politics.”

“But it’s not the same as going outside with friends,” his mom insisted.

“No, it’s not the same. But It’s not worse either.”
“Tom, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Leave him alone. If he wants to be stuck all day near the computer and let his brain get rotten, then it’s his problem,” his father interrupted.

“My brain is not rotten. I can promise you that whatever I play on the computer, it’s much more sophisticated than what most people do. Not even speaking about people who watch TV all day. Their brains are really rotten.”

“I just don’t see how those idiotic games can help in any way.”

“That’s what I’m trying to explain! They’re not idiotic…”

“If you would have given studying the same amount of time you give computers, your grades would be a hell of a lot better,” his mom said with an all-knowing tone.

“I’m not going to fight with you over this. Just know that good computer games teach you a lot more than school.”

Tom stood up, washed his plate, and went back to his room. As he closed the game’s menu, Sirlin was still there, waiting next to Xerok. Tom smiled. “That’s why I like computers more than people.”

The End