The year was 2019.
School was closed because of COVID-19, and life had slowed down in a way I never expected. Days felt longer, quieter… almost empty. To escape that silence, I started using Facebook through my mother's phone. It wasn't anything serious,..just chatting with school friends, joking, posting random things, trying to keep life normal in a strange time.
But I didn't know that one normal day would change everything.
It was June 6th.
That morning, everything was still ordinary. But by afternoon, life took a painful turn. My maternal grandfather passed away. The news hit our family like a sudden storm. Without thinking much, I went to my grandfather's house with my mother.
Everything felt heavy that day...grief, silence, tears… everything mixed together.
In the middle of all that, I had my mother's phone with me. I opened Facebook just to distract myself for a moment… just to feel normal again.
And that's when it happened.
I saw him.
A name in the comments section… someone I had seen before in my area, someone older, someone I had noticed in passing but never truly knew.
His name was Nil....
Without any expectation, I reacted to one of his comments. Just a small, casual interaction. Nothing special… or at least that's what I thought.
But then...
An inbox message appeared.
From him.
At first, I was confused. Why would he text me?
We started talking. Slowly. Carefully. Like two strangers trying to understand each other through broken trust and curiosity.
What made it more complicated was the truth—he was known in my brother's area, older, respected… someone I was not supposed to be casually talking to.
And when I told him that I knew him already…
He doubted me.
He didn't fully believe who I was.
And maybe I understood why.
So I didn't reveal everything about myself that day.
I stayed silent about my real identity.
That day ended with uncertainty between us.
And after that…
For seven long days, there was no conversation.
No messages.
No replies.
Just silence.
But somehow… even in that silence, something had already started.
Something I didn't understand yet.
To be continued…