Earlier today I received a message on my computer that I thought was spam.

Earlier that day I deleted my MySpace account, I was never really a social person and those kinds of places never did anything for me but I used it to keep in contact with some people I knew. It was probably about noon when I logged into my Yahoo mail account and saw this strange e-mail mixed in with my regular spam, "Hi Arie"<br><br>I was somewhat skeptical at first but I was bored so I clicked on the e-mail, the message read.<br><br>“You know who this is. If you want to talk with me then just click this link and download this chat program. I’m waiting for you now.” My heart was racing. There was no signature or any way of telling who it was from but I was sure I knew who this was. How I couldn’t tell you. I know it sounds crazy but this is the truth. I clicked the link and downloaded the software and set my account up. This was my first time using this chat, I never used my AOL Instant Messenger except to chat with a few old friends. I loaded the software onto my desktop and put my name on the account. The chat loaded up, there were about 90 people online already, I felt a little out of place but I clicked the message window and typed hello. There was one reply, “Hey Arie.”<br><br>I started typing in the same box and that was a mistake, it would send every time I put a period so I looked like a complete idiot. “Hey, it’s been a long time.” “I’m going to use another box.” “I’m sorry, this is the first time I’ve used the chat.” “How are you doing?” “Do you remember me?” “Do you remember those days in the park?”<br><br>“You use to play games with me, hide and seek, tag, Simon Says. You and I were the best of friends.” I stopped for a second and I looked next to me, my mom was standing there, looking at my computer, My cousin Jeanie was in my bed behind me. “Who are you chatting with?” my mom asked, I was about to turn back to my computer and talk but I caught myself. I turned around and looked at my cousin, I was expecting to see an empty bed but there she was, just sitting there staring at me.<br><br>“A friend.” I said “Who was it?” She asked again “A friend.” I said, my eyes still fixed on my cousin. I turned back to my computer and my mom huffed at me. I looked at the screen and the message window still had chat going on in it, ”You use to play games with me, hide and seek, tag, Simon Says. You and I were the best of friends.” “I was waiting for you, I'm still waiting for you” “You haven’t been to the park in a while.”<br><br>I moved the mouse and typed “Who is this.” The reply was ”You know who I am.” Then another reply came, “This is Cora, remember me?” I don’t know why I was so afraid to type but if I would have known what was going to happen, I probably would have stayed away from that computer. I just remember that all I was afraid of was the answer, I wanted that answer more then anything in the world. I would have rather died then to have not known the truth behind those strange messages. I still remember that feeling, why I was so scared but I can’t put it into words. “What happened to you, where did you go?” I typed. I got a reply, “Look behind you.” I held the mouse for a second before I turned around and I don’t know why I was so scared but I was. I slowly turned my head around and I was about to turn back to my computer but there she was.<br><br>She was standing there, right next to my cousin. She looked exactly like I remembered her. She looked exactly like she did that night. I felt like I was there, in the park. Right next to that pond. We were hiding behind that big tree, waiting for those two boys to find us but I wasn’t hiding behind the tree, I was sitting in my bedroom and the tree was next to me. Cora was standing, her arms stretched out to her sides and looking right at me.<br><br>I don’t know how long it took me to turn back around but it felt like forever. I turned around and my hands were still on the mouse and the keyboard, my fingers still on the keyboard but they didn’t look like my fingers. I know this sounds crazy but I don’t know how else to describe it My hands didn’t look like my hands, they looked like the hands on a kids stuffed animal. My fingers were round, my thumb was a normal finger, my wrist was fat. My hands didn’t look like mine and my fingers didn’t look like mine but I knew that they were mine. I looked at my fingers and just stared at them, if I would have looked up maybe I would have noticed the two boys standing next to me but I didn’t, I was too busy looking at my hands.<br><br>I looked up from my hands and looked at the monitor, I was staring at my hands on the desk, I was looking at the monitor, my eyes were on the monitor. I don’t know how to explain it. I was in my room, I was sitting at my desk, and I was looking at myself sitting at my desk. “You have a new message.” my computer said, I looked at the message window and it said “Maybe you forgot what I look like.” I looked next to me and Jeanie was there, she was sitting in my bed, staring at me. I turned around and looked next to my chair and those two boys were there, they were standing, one of them had a small suitcase in his hand. I looked back at my computer and my hands, they still didn’t look like mine, I was still looking at Cora’s hands.<br><br>“Maybe you forgot what we look like.” the message read. The mouse moved on its own and clicked the box to type a message. I watched as letters were being typed, “I don’t want to play anymore.” I leaned back in my chair and the two boys leaned back with me. The computer beeped again, “You have a new message.”<br><br>I leaned forward and read the message, “You don’t have a choice.” I leaned back in my chair and the boys leaned back with me. I was about to stand up but I couldn’t, the boys were holding me down. “Why are you doing this.” I yelled but they didn’t say anything. I turned back to the computer and looked at my hands, they still didn’t look like mine. I looked up at the message window and a new message had popped up, “This is how it is.” I looked at the contact list, most of the people had logged off but I noticed one person was still online, “Officer Stevens.”<br><br>“You have a new message.” my computer said, “Maybe you forgot what I look like.” I looked at the contact list and that name was gone. I looked at my hands, they still didn’t look like mine. “You have a new message.” “I told you if you ever went to the police then I would never come back to you.” I put my fingers on the keyboard and started typing, “No, no, no, I didn’t call them.”<br><br>I looked down at the keyboard and my hands were gone, I don’t know what the thing was that was typing but it wasn’t human. The keyboard was moving with some force behind it, like the keys were being smashed and I could hear them breaking. “No, no, no, I didn’t call them.” “I didn’t tell them anything Cora.” “I never want to play that game anymore, I never want to play with you again.” I stood up and looked around my room but I was no longer there, I was in the park.<br><br>As I walked away Cora yelled at me, “I thought we were friends.” I turned around and I was right back in front of her. “You have a new message.” I heard but it wasn’t my computer, it sounded like a woman’s voice. I looked in front of me, all four of them were there. “I thought we were friends Arie.” Cora said. I looked down at her and she looked different, A lot different. I don’t know how to describe it, she looked like a child but she was big, she looked like she was made of something but she wasn’t, like a doll or something. “I thought we were friends Arie.” She said as she reached out with her big puffy hand and grabbed me.<br><br>I tried to pull away but I couldn’t, I was stuck. “You have a new message.” I heard, ”Maybe you forgot what I look like.” I was back in my room, I was sitting at my desk and Cora was standing next to me. “Maybe you forgot what I looked like.” she said as she tried to climb onto my lap. I pushed her away and she fell to the ground with a thud. “Cora.” I said and she looked up at me, she was crying. I don’t know if it was her or if she just sounded like a real kid but she was crying like a baby. “Maybe you forgot what I look like.” she said.<br><br>I woke up, I was in my bed, I was sweating, it was a dream. I got out of bed and went downstairs to tell my mom what happened but she wasn’t there, My dad was sitting at the table. “Arie, you ok, your eyes are closed.” He said. I looked at him with wide eyes, “What? No, I’m fine.” I said. “You