L.I.K.E

Water droplets suddenly spattered on the surface of my suitcase and dappled dark brown stains on the paper bag of goodies I bought as presents for the house. The unexpected downpour would have made me scurry to any nearby shed or restaurant. But isn’t this strange to do inside an airport’s waiting lounge? I wondered what type of indoor tropical depression had drenched my belongings.

The unshapely and enormously dark suffocating mass of a cyclone suddenly came into view. Suddenly, the hovering threat of water, wind, lightning and thunder spoke to me in a high-pitched voice like Daffy Duck’s, “Father!”

It was Ed, my accidental traveling companion. His shadow seemed to dim all the lights in the area where I sat. There was no way the weatherman could have predicted this meteorological omen.

“Ed, what in heaven’s name blows you here?” I tried not to show that I was avoiding the droplets of sweat sprinkled by his over-drenched hanky that uselessly absorbed his perspiration. I imagined that he could probably power up a house with all that sweat by turning microturbines attached to his body to generate electricity.

“Whatta ye lookin’ at, Fathu?” He seemed to observe I was amused with his unpredicted arrival.

“Oh, nothing! You just look like a hovering tropical raincloud.” After some time getting acquainted, Ed was quite used to my jokes.

“Verrry fuhnnnny, Fahthu.” He dropped his bags and he came crashing in a seat beside me like a World War I blimp rapidly losing altitude.

“Hey, I didn’t say anything about you’re gaining—”

“Before ye even talk about my weight, ye gotta se this, Fathu!” Despite his banana-sized fingers, Ed was amazingly skillful as a magician when whisking out his beloved gadgets.

“What do you have this time, Ed?”

“Fathu? Do ye have Facebook?”

“Well, yeah. But I now seldom get to check out my wall.”

“Really? Can I invite ye?”

“Sure, but why do you ask, Ed?”

Ed began tapping his fingers on what looked like a tablet. “Ye’ll see, Fathu.” He concentrated on his typing.

Thud, thud, tap, tip—his fingers went as they left huge fingerprint smudges mixed with some lubricating droplets of sweat. “There ye go, Fathu!” He showed the tablet to me.

“What do you want me to see?” I could hardly read anything from the now- opaque fingerprint-covered screen.

With one quick swipe of his tablet-sized palm, he evened out the smudges. “There! That’s my wall. Notice how many people read my daily status and how many ‘Likes’ I get?”

“Now listen up, Fathu.” Ed scrolled down to his previous posts and read: “Love is like a key. If it is true, it can open everything. If it is false, if closes one’s heart.”

“Wow! That’s really nice, Ed. Quite different from the sophisticated journalist I knew you to be.”

“I guess I’m just getting wiser, Fathu.” He gave me a grateful smile. “Now listen ta this other one.” He clicked and read: “Every person is a blessing. I thank God for the blessing that you are.”

“Hmmm, okay, but I like the previous one better,” I commented.

“I knew ye’d say that, Fathu.” He clicked and read more quotes.

“I’m happy you’re excited about something less digital this time. Congratulations, Ed!” I said.

Then Ed looked at me and asked, “Can I invite you to be my friend in Facebook, Fathu?”

“Is that really necessary? Aren’t we friends already?”

“But… , ah…uhm, ye know, Fahthu… ’coz…, ye see.” He scratched his balding head.

“’Coz you want me to also ‘Like’ your daily status?” I winked at him.

“Well, ye … ye can say that, but ye know, it also helps to keep in touch,” he stammered.

“But, Ed, I’m not really a ‘Like’-able person,” I explained.

“Why not?”

“Because I believe that I could do something better than ‘Like’ something that’s read, appreciated and then lost in cyberspace in one digital second,” I replied.

“But …”

“Sides, I think ‘Like’ simply stands for ‘loose insights kindling emotions’!”

“Whoa! Hold it right there, Fahthu!” Ed started to rabidly type on his tablet. THUD! THUD! TAP! TICK!

“What are you doing, inviting me already?”

“Oh, updating my daily status: L.I.K.E. — loose insights kindling emotions!”

Sigh!

Loose insights kindling emotions.