Follower

How may followers do you have, we'd ask each other online. The higher the number the more important we felt. It was a game. Then in 2007, my words went out around the world, and touched a few like thinkers. We began to talk, plan, dream of our ideal existence. The power of the internet was all we needed. It's like the new religion, someone joked. We believed in mega pixels.

After several years, our group became a number to be reckoned with. Small changes were seen in the way the World Government dealt with problems we pointed out. Dreams grew. We became bold, posted pictures, plastered lists of our followers on each others blogs. Government tried to direct our actions. Freedom of speech was our right we blogged. We're bigger than the real world. We rule space.

Then it began.

On Monday, I noticed a few were missing from my list. This didn't alarm me. Words can become misunderstood. Some may have felt neglected. Internet glich I decided.

On Tuesday, twice as many were gone. My cyberworld, I realized was shrinking. Perhaps, I was becoming a bit to radical, living in the mind a bit too much. I sent out a kinder, gentler post on loving my fellow human.

Wednesday there was a power outage. I spent the time outside, tending the organic garden, and greasing the windmill.  Thoughts of my friends across the web, spun like gossamer threads through my mind. They were as real to me as the spider who hovered over my squash.We hadn't quite perfected living off the grid, couldn't really if we wanted to stay connected to like minded people, people who were more than mere bodies.

Back onlineThursday, I began to worry. Half my list, 6,000 were gone. I did a few calculations. Being one of the smallest members of the Idealist Movement, if this were happening to all, then more than 10,000,000 were no longer communicating.

Friday, I was all alone. My followers had vanished. It left me speechless, fingers frozen over the keyboard. Where were they?

Saturday, I sent out a message. Where are you? Do you still exist? Do I still exist?

On Sunday, my belief in the Blog World crumbled. I went off the grid, pulled out an ancient book, looking for a solution, someone to follow. My finger traced words. I moved to my laptop and began to type.

God, if you can hear me, please answer.