“We can’t go back now!” Bonnie turned sharply, dragging them around a bend to where the white picket fences turned into brick walls.
The worn and painted bricks looked old. Withered with age, they bore the markings of vandalization. They had gang symbols and inappropriate symbols written all over them. They held words of despair, words of defeat, threats and horrible other messages. It was an array of messages, sent from random people to other random people. They could not make sense of any of it either.
They slowed down to a walk, making their way between two brick walls. Bonnie brought them to an area where there were more doors. The doors usually laid flat against the brick walls, yet once in a while, a door stood apart from the wall, standing by its lonesome. These doors seemed to lead to nowhere, not even the other side.
“Where are we?” Wade asked, his head spinning back and forth.
“It’s a forum,” Bonnie explained, hurriedly, “Where people leave trash messages for other people. Cause it’s the internet.”
“That’s sad,” Wade sighed.
“You would think so,” Mark chuckled.
“I- You would too!” Wade protested.
“Yea…yea you’re right,” Mark sighed. He looked around at the messages.
It left a little feeling of despair within him. The internet was this powerful, yet the culmination of human beings messaging each other comprised of death threats, harassment, ridicule and rape threats. It was like the distasteful backside of the walls. Surely there had to be better sides to these walls, where all the nice things he read were found.
“Where are the nicer walls?” Mark asked, “All of these walls are…nasty. I don’t like it.”
Bonnie shrugged, “Beats me. I’ve only seen walls like this. People must really hate each other.”
“Only online,” Wade shook his head.
“But I get so much positivity from comments and forums!” Mark said, in earnest, “Surely there have to be walls with those beautiful messages on them!”
Bonnie finally looked around at the walls surrounding them. He shook his head, “Whatever those are, they are drowned out by the ones you see here.”
“I always see great messages from people!” Mark protested, “Surely those have to count for something in drowning out all of the bad!”
“Not necessarily, Mark,” Wade said.
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