H O L O G R A M

The beginning of an era

After his checkup, Josh's parents went to pick him up. At the back of the car, while they chatted away happily in the front seat about going overseas next year for vacation, Josh absentmindedly listened. He gazed outside the car thinking about his future. All he wanted was an assurance that he’ll be back on the game. Be back on time for the National Championship.

He grew detached and miserable in the following days. Josh stayed in his room and no matter how his parents tenaciously pursued the topic of therapy, he never relented. He was afraid of facing failure. He wanted to try but in the depth of his heart, fear had already rooted. The physical pain he experienced and the disappointment he saw was enough for him to surrender.

He spent his days either playing video games or reading his teammates' social media updates. Their college basketball team has an official page that was maintained regularly due to the massive number of followers they have. Before his injury, Josh was never interested with social media websites. He has one but it was only because of communication purposes. He was always focusing on his studies and his basketball career.

Josh started to become devoted to reading all his teammates' updates as well as their rival’s status updates. His friends list went from 100 to 1000. He accepted all pending requests he had. He spends his time following professional basketball players from all over the world. He also committed himself to watching basketball videos online then posting his comments and reactions.

Refresh. Click. Scroll.

He religiously spent his time online. He also found himself playing online games which he now found exciting unlike before. Friends, classmates and teammates visited him. At first, Josh was able to face them but in the end his parents have to give excuses because Josh won’t come out of his room. He doesn’t want to see anybody. He was too entangled in the internet. There he was able to become the same Josh before the stupid accident happened. He was a god. His photos showed a young man on his way to the pros. Likes were given and it kept adding up. Comments surged on how cool, awesome and good looking he is. Women in all shapes and sizes threw themselves at him online.

He was never interested. He got more fun with heated discussions with trolls and haters. He became a keyboard warrior. Defending the foreign basketball player he idolizes so much. He spends time looking for what he thought were stupidly ignorant fanboys. He relentlessly attacked and humiliated them. 

Assholes deserve that, he thought.

Days went on. Weeks passed and it has been four months since his surgery. His parents’ persuasion tactics receded. They no longer bugged him about getting out of his room, getting therapy or even going back to school. They feed him by bringing food outside his door. They completely lost hope but since Josh is their only child, they couldn’t help but spoil him. They understood the pain and the fear but can do nothing more. Even Coach Alfred, his teammates and friends, stopped coming over. They sent him several messages which he did find time to reply.

Josh looked absolutely like hell. Sometimes he wouldn’t take a bath for days. He never wanted to tear his eyes of his social media account. From 1000 friends and followers, it went up to 5000. He added and accepted people especially if they’re into basketball as much as he is. He lost a lot of weight and the shadow in his eyes grew dark. Sleep eluded him but it didn’t matter to Josh.

The Internet needs him, he thought.

One night, he was sleeping soundly when his phone pinged. Groggily, he picked it up and saw the notification.

Someone messaged him on one of his social media accounts. He opened it but decided to read it later.
He changed his mind the minute he saw the girl’s picture. She was sitting on a swing. Her hair tied in a pony. The photo was obviously taken candidly.

It was her smile that awakened Josh. He bolted upright in his bed. She was not one of his friends. No mutual friends. On her profile, it only showed that she was from Singapore and since her profile is private, he couldn’t see any more details. He went back to his inbox and read the message.

To Mr. Josh Mendoza,

Hi There! I am your father.

Hah! I don’t actually know where to start. LOL.
Ehem… So it’s like this, I was on the internet reading news when I stumbled upon this article about a young basketball prodigy. He was famous because it was him who led his college basketball team to the finals. A first for his university. Many believed that this young man will aim higher and higher not just in college basketball but in the pros as well. J One of his known traits was his speed. He was so fast that he appears to be invincible in court. Mind you, Mr. Mendoza I don’t easily believe what is in the internet so I took it upon myself to watch his games.

He was superb. That’s it. He glided in the court as if he was born with the feet to play the sport.

I am not a fan of any sport but after watching him play. I wanted to see live games but right now, unfortunately, I can’t.

Anyway, I was saddened by the news that he got injured during a practice match. It had a video link that captured his fall and his teammates scrambling towards him. I tried to watch it but it broke my heart to see him like that. He fell and clutched his ankle. He howled in pain and I threw my headphones away and snapped my laptop shut. It pained me to see him like that.

Now, it has been months after the accident. I prayed to God that he was able to recuperate so he can go back in practicing for the finals. But according to tweets, he was still MIA.

So I gathered all my confidence and sent him a lengthy message starting with a Star wars reference that I hoped made him smile because he said in a tweet that he’s pretty excited for the new film. I bet he’s a fanboy. LOL.

I will continue to pray for you. I know you’ve heard this plenty of times and maybe you hated it as well, I’m sorry it had happened and you will be okay.

I assure you, I hated these lines as well but in a world where injustice prevails, what else can we do?

Hope, Mr. Mendoza. We hope that these too shall pass. Your great perhaps is waiting.

Live, Mr. Mendoza. Be well and run like the wind again.

May the force be with you,
Hanna L. Rosales

He reread the last lines.

May the force be with you,
Hanna L. Rosales

May the force be with you,
Hanna L. Rosales

May the force be with you,
Hanna L. Rosales

He laughed so hard. He couldn’t remember the last time he laughed like this. Tears fell in his eyes and something warm oozed in his heart. Was it hope? He’s not sure. Hanna L. Rosales is so cute. He placed his hand to his heart and noticed how his heart was beating like crazy.

He grabbed his phone again and sent a reply.

Is this a trap? J

He also sent her a friend request and after just a minute, he got accepted. She also replied,

Sleep, Padawan. Sleep.

He collapsed in his bed. He placed his phone in his forehead with his other hand clutching his shirt. He was smiling.

Genuinely smiling.

After months of solitude, he found himself in a bubble of happiness. He closed his eyes and waited for sleep to consume him.

Tomorrow, maybe I can hope, he thought.