In This Crazy World of Ours

Helena Goodwill

Goodwill: 

An attitude of kindness or friendliness; benevolence

Cheerful acquiescence or willingness

Yes, Helena Goodwill lives up to her name. She's an all around girl scout. Caring, helpful, understanding, and loyal to anyone she trusts. But one website drastically changed her life. 

And it's this. 

Ever since she was introduced to Wattpad, she began spending more hours inside her room than being with the people who constantly asked for her company. That included her kind neighbor, an old lady named Beatrice, her friends, and her family. She began sacrificing her social life for the sake of her fictional characters' lives. 

It's not easy to be Helena. Once she got sucked up in this writing world, she can never stop typing out ideas that come to her mind. And ideas come to her every few seconds since she finds inspiration in everything. Whether it's a YouTube video or some random photo on the internet, it has to have a story for her. 

She's not like the other writers who need to go out and explore in order to have inspiration to write. With only her laptop, she can write great stories that always appear in the Hot Page of Wattpad. 

Writing used to be her all time favorite hobby. Now, it feels more like an inescapable job for her. Wattpad is like the shackles that keep her from reaching the outside world. 

                                                                        __________________

Helena's mom pokes her head inside her daughter's bedroom. "Sweetie, we're going to buy groceries. Are you sure you don't want to come?"

Helena looks up from her red laptop with a tired look. "No, mom. I'll stay here." 

"Are you sure you don't want to come? You could use some fresh air." 

"No, I'm too busy." 

Her mom smiles and goes inside to kiss her daughter on the cheek. "Miss author here is busy. Alright then, I'll buy you a slice of your favorite chocolate cake. Byebye!" 

"Bye mom." The door clicks shut. Helena puts her laptop on the bedside table and stands up to stretch. She looks outside to see her mom running towards the waiting car. As the car backs out of the driveway, her dad waves goodbye to her. She waves back. 

Now, what happens when Helena is left alone in a two-story house? 

Nothing.

She doesn't invite people to come over or do anything that her parents don't know of. She simply goes back to her laptop and starts typing random words again.  That's how she lives out her life now, even though she's permitted to go anywhere she wants as long as she's with a friend or a relative. 

When Helena still didn't know about Wattpad, she used to stay at Beatrice's house whenever her parents are not around. She'd help the old woman prepare wonderful food and they'd even visit the bookstore near their place and buy if they can, because that's their favorite hobby. 

But now, Helena would wake up early, not to visit her friends or accompany Beatrice, but to write on her scratch notebook and transfer the formed idea on Wattpad later. It's a boring cycle for some of you, and believe me, she's tired of it too. But she can't start a day without updating her profile with a chapter or two. Or a new story. She knows that this site is only doing her bad, but she can't avoid it. 

Then something occured to her. 

Yeah, she's famous on Wattpad. She has lots of fans, she always gets the most reads, she's always featured, and her stories are always on the 'What's Hot' page. But what about her real life? Is she happy with it?

No. 

Even though she has lots of friends, she tends to feel left out. And that's because she'd rather spend her whole day facing her laptop than go out with them. Her friends are understanding and they're even trying their best to include her in their conversations but....it's just not the same for Helena. 

And if it weren't for her friends, who were her first readers of short stories she wrote in her journal, she wouldn't have the guts to create a Wattpad account. Actually, one of her friends introduced her and encouraged her to make an account. So, if it weren't for her friends, she wouldn't be able to achieve this cyber fame.  

She saves her work and logs out of Wattpad. Then, she goes downstairs to the living room and grabs the phone to dial up her friend's number. The number of the one who encouraged her to share her stories on Wattpad. 

No one answers, so the answering machine takes over. 

Sherwood-Bentley residence! We're really sorry but no one's around to answer, so just leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as we arrive! says the chirpy voice of her friend's mother. 

"Umm..." Helena hesitates, then continues, "Chav, I just want to say thank you for all the good things you've done to me and that I'm sorry...sorry for being a jerk. Ever since I got a hold of Wattpad, I started ignoring your invites and I know that was really rude of me. I'm sorry. You know, I wouldn't be this famous if it weren't for your never ending support."

She takes a huge breath, then continues. "So yeah, I know you're mad or something but please, do return my call. I just really miss you. And it'd be nice if we hang out, you know? I need to take a break from my writing. It's just stressing me out already. That's it. Bye and I'll talk to you soon."

Helena slumps down on the family couch. She's about to open the television when an idea pops in her mind. 

What if she spends the whole day with Beatrice? That would really make her neighbor happy and she really needs to take off her mind from things concerning her cyber life. 

                                                                      __________________

That night, Helena receives a text message. She flips open her phone and sees that it's from her friend Chav. 

It says, hahaha drama queen! Ok, what do you need? Can't call you, dad's using it. 

She smiles to herself and then replies with, I just said sorry! Are you free tomorrow? 

As she waits for Chav's reply, she can't help smiling to herself. Well maybe things are starting to get better now. 

She gets her laptop and logs in on Wattpad to check her current status. Still no new notifications, but she doesn't feel sad. Not even a tiny bit. 

I need a break, she tells herself. Everything in life needs to be in moderation. We need to learn how to balance our priorities so when the time comes, we wouldn't regret a single thing that we've done in our life. 

                                                                    __________________

Hi guys. :) 

I'm speaking as the author of this short story, and not as the fictional character, Damian Phillips. So, I just want to say thank you for reading this short compilation that my 'character' made. And well, this is pretty much the ending of my short story. 

I know, this is like my other short story, 'The Anatomy of Me'. It left you hanging, didn't it? I'm really sorry but as of now, I can't come up with a good ending for this story. It's not writer's block, because I'm currently working with a new story, and it's an ongoing series, so it would really mean a lot if you check it out. :D

Hahaha I don't really know. Maybe I just lost my mojo in finishing this work. But hopefully, I might come up with an ending for this. A proper one. 

So, thank you again for reading this and well, it would mean a lot if you Vote. :)