In a small, square room, where beaming lights flashed from a large, flat computer monitor, hid a

little boy. His dainty fingers danced across a black keyboard ferociously, his eyes glued to the
gleaming screen, as he lay on a black, cushioned chair, with his bare feet scarcely touching the
marble floor. Two hours passed, three hours passed, and by then, his polished white rice had turned
cold. Profanities never uttered by the other souls in the house glided off his small mouth as he
indifferently answered a Skype call.
He sat there, everyday without fail, five hours minimally. His mother had stood with his arm
akimbo, eye brows crinkling and mouth twisting into ugly frowns. On several days, she had to
resort to pulling the black computer plug out of the plain white socket.
His big sister, me, gaily introduced him to the shining cyberworld. The wide array of games on the
huge, flickering screen widened his coal-black eyes and brought his mouth agaped. As a window
popped up in his computer when he randomly clicked an icon, his eyes glistened in amazement.
One day, as he briskly set up his black computer, he hopped and waddled sideways towards my
small, smooth wooden table. His puppy like eyes twinkled and shone, his pink lips stretched into an
ernomous smile, and squeaked, Jie, you know the game I'm playing? Habbo? There are these game
credits used for upgrading and buying equipments, and the credits can be bought using real cash!
So..Jie, please please please! Please buy me!
Gazing at his large, sparkling eyes and his cute pouting lips, I nodded nonchalently, and dashed out
of our small apartment. In a flash, I returned beside him with a thin, rectangular, Habbo game card
that was supposed to contain some Habbo credits. The glinting card brought out an effulgent smile
from his little head, and he snatched the card from my bony hand and rushed to his room.
The number of cards that I bought him multiplied month after month. The hours he spent sitting on
the cushioned chair grew too, until it appeared as if his lean back had been pinned to it. He started
wearing spectacles, and the glass lenses thickened with time. His once angel-like mouth now only
threw out harsh, vulgar words which he had absorbed from the cruel cyberworld.
The number of assessment books that Mother bought for him stayed still.
Sorry dear brother.. those words however went unheard by him.