Meg moved the mouse over the eBay logo and double clicked. While the computer called the program to the forefront and automatically did the things necessary to get her screen open she set a cup of water in the microwave and punched “Beverage”. Technology. Where would she be without it? After Tom had died and the memorial service was behind her, life became very mundane and tedious. She had friends, but she was the widow woman now. The third wheel that just did not fit in. Her friends tried to include her in the social life, but she was always the “extra” at the table. They tried inviting a single man, but that was not the answer. There did not seem to be an answer so she had drawn further inward and found herself taking quilting classes, or art classes and had even learned to weave. Then she discovered eBay.
EBay offered hours of entertaining buying. Then she tried her hand at selling. By opening a store for only $14.95 a month she could keep track and list and paypal collected her money and sent it to her bank when she wanted it. She started out just listing a few things on the auction. First was a quilt she had snagged at the local Goodwill for $15.00. She had it appraised and found it to be worth $437.00. She put it up for auction with a $49.00 opening bid. The next morning she had her bid and 6 watchers. Soon it was up to $179.00. This was getting to be kind of exciting. By the time the week was up she had 26 watchers and a high bid of $189.50. It sold in the middle of the night for $198.50. Meg’s Market was a success! She began to list things at a Buy It Now price in her store with a Good Till Cancelled time limit. She enjoyed writing the descriptions and researching what they were worth. She read everything eBay had to offer on how to have a successful store and put it all into practice. Her minister turned over a Lion and Lamb collection and this opened more doors. She began to haunt the second hand stores, the estate sales and garage sales. Her friends put items on consignment and soon she was a power seller with 100% feed back. EBay was becoming a lucrative venture.
She began visiting the chat rooms that eBay maintained for members. Just now and then at first and only one or two. But then she made friends. This was now a social network. Meg had been making jewelry and now she started listing that. More sales. It seemed in the golden world of the Internet she was quite the success. Customers messaged her through eBay and asked her questions and visited and wished her well and bought her products. One guy in particular caught her fancy in the chat room and she began looking forward to visiting him in the evening. Redranger. Just a little harmless flirting. What could it hurt? But then she checked her messages and found one from redr726584433. That was how eBay disguised him to protect his identity.
“Meg, I would like to contact you outside the chat room. I think we have a lot in common and I would love to know you better. I need your email.”
She remembered how she had blushed as she hit the reply button and typed the email address. The marketlady@hotmail.com . That had been almost a year ago. The emails came every day. Sometimes many, many times a day. They visited at all hours and laughed and Meg began to feel alive again. His name was Eldon. No last name, just Eldon. He lived up North. Way up North. She had no intention of ever meeting him, so addresses and all that were pretty much a moot point. He worked as an engineer in New York and did a lot of philanthropic work. He spent 2 days a week in the local soup kitchen. That was all she needed to know. They were friends and Meg needed a friend she could talk to. It was nice to discuss Kevin with someone. He understood about Tommy and shared her loss as he was a widower. She could vent to Eldon and he would tell her she was special. She needed the strokes sometimes just to get through the day or the night. And what better way than with a faceless stranger 2000 miles away. She joked that this was the best kind of relationship because she could leave him in a box at night and not bother with him for days if she chose. He was always kind because he had no reason not to be. And of course money was never a problem. The perfect man.
As Summer turned to Fall and then to Winter Meg began to notice a pattern with Eldon. It seemed that about every 4 weeks he would disappear for 6 or 7 days. Nothing. No forwards. No “Meg?” No nothing. Dead silence on the mail page. Then as suddenly as he disappeared he would pop back in her life. No explanation. Just the email with “Meg?” and they resumed where they had left off.
In June she decided to fly out to San Francisco and spend a few days with Kevin. Getting away was not easy with the chickens needing daily care and the two dogs and the insane cat, but it could be worked out. She called a friend of Kevin’s who still lived in town. Sure, he would be happy to come out a couple times a day and gather the eggs and put them in the walkin cooler and play with the dogs and ignore the cat. Daisy and Elvira were very easy dogs. Couch potatoes to the max. The cat, Icarus was another matter, but then anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that cats are not owned.
Meg sent the note to Eldon. “Hey sweetie, I am going to San Francisco to spend a few days with Kevin. I will holler when I get back.” There was an immediate reply.
“Meg! Do you think it is wise to be flying with all the terrorist stuff going on? Can’t he come and see you? Who will take care of the farm? What about your eBay store?”
This was very uncharacteristic of Eldon. Actually a bit disturbing. She replied, “I have not seen Kevin in almost a year and have never been to California. I have a friend of his coming to watch the farm. I will put the store on vacation. I just don’t see the problem.”
“Meg, I just worry about you going off like that by yourself. When are you leaving? I want flight numbers and times. I will pray for you.”
“Oh, Eldon, you are so sweet. I will be fine and I am attaching my itinerary, so quit worrying.” She hit the attach button, chose browse and clicked on the itinerary file, and then hit send. There. But it did feel good to know he would be worried about her. Must care a little bit. Who knows, maybe someday.
She heard no more from Eldon that day or the next. The morning of her trip arrived and she emailed him a happy little note and heard nothing in return. So she drove to Denver, parked in the long term parking and caught the jet to San Francisco. This would be a glorious 4 days with Kevin. Nothing could spoil it for her, and when she came out of the tunnel and say Kevin she ran to him. Her son! He was brown and healthy and seemed happy. That was all she could hope for at this time.
The next few days were spent sight seeing and eating in Kevin’s favorite places. She visited his job site and met his staff. They all seemed pleasant enough. He had taken a few days off, so they were bumming. Meg had brought her jogging shoes and they ran on the trail behind his apartment each morning. The last day they went to the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge glowed golden and the bay was calm and serene as they stood looking down from the bluff. “ I see why you love this place, son. California is definitely different than Colorado or Montana.”
Meg suddenly shuddered. Kevin looked startled. “What was that all about? Are you cold mom? “
She laughed. “No, it was just a rabbit ran across my grave, I guess. That is what Momma always used to say. I don’t know.” Meg turned slowly and caught sight of a tall man getting into a silver SUV. She had thought they were alone on the bluff, but apparently they were not. As she and Kevin started down the incline to the parking lot she watched the silver Jeep Cherokee slowly leave the lot and turn onto the highway. She wondered at the uneasy feeling in her chest, but dismissed it as a mother not wanting to leave her only son. That was all.
EBay offered hours of entertaining buying. Then she tried her hand at selling. By opening a store for only $14.95 a month she could keep track and list and paypal collected her money and sent it to her bank when she wanted it. She started out just listing a few things on the auction. First was a quilt she had snagged at the local Goodwill for $15.00. She had it appraised and found it to be worth $437.00. She put it up for auction with a $49.00 opening bid. The next morning she had her bid and 6 watchers. Soon it was up to $179.00. This was getting to be kind of exciting. By the time the week was up she had 26 watchers and a high bid of $189.50. It sold in the middle of the night for $198.50. Meg’s Market was a success! She began to list things at a Buy It Now price in her store with a Good Till Cancelled time limit. She enjoyed writing the descriptions and researching what they were worth. She read everything eBay had to offer on how to have a successful store and put it all into practice. Her minister turned over a Lion and Lamb collection and this opened more doors. She began to haunt the second hand stores, the estate sales and garage sales. Her friends put items on consignment and soon she was a power seller with 100% feed back. EBay was becoming a lucrative venture.
She began visiting the chat rooms that eBay maintained for members. Just now and then at first and only one or two. But then she made friends. This was now a social network. Meg had been making jewelry and now she started listing that. More sales. It seemed in the golden world of the Internet she was quite the success. Customers messaged her through eBay and asked her questions and visited and wished her well and bought her products. One guy in particular caught her fancy in the chat room and she began looking forward to visiting him in the evening. Redranger. Just a little harmless flirting. What could it hurt? But then she checked her messages and found one from redr726584433. That was how eBay disguised him to protect his identity.
“Meg, I would like to contact you outside the chat room. I think we have a lot in common and I would love to know you better. I need your email.”
She remembered how she had blushed as she hit the reply button and typed the email address. The marketlady@hotmail.com . That had been almost a year ago. The emails came every day. Sometimes many, many times a day. They visited at all hours and laughed and Meg began to feel alive again. His name was Eldon. No last name, just Eldon. He lived up North. Way up North. She had no intention of ever meeting him, so addresses and all that were pretty much a moot point. He worked as an engineer in New York and did a lot of philanthropic work. He spent 2 days a week in the local soup kitchen. That was all she needed to know. They were friends and Meg needed a friend she could talk to. It was nice to discuss Kevin with someone. He understood about Tommy and shared her loss as he was a widower. She could vent to Eldon and he would tell her she was special. She needed the strokes sometimes just to get through the day or the night. And what better way than with a faceless stranger 2000 miles away. She joked that this was the best kind of relationship because she could leave him in a box at night and not bother with him for days if she chose. He was always kind because he had no reason not to be. And of course money was never a problem. The perfect man.
As Summer turned to Fall and then to Winter Meg began to notice a pattern with Eldon. It seemed that about every 4 weeks he would disappear for 6 or 7 days. Nothing. No forwards. No “Meg?” No nothing. Dead silence on the mail page. Then as suddenly as he disappeared he would pop back in her life. No explanation. Just the email with “Meg?” and they resumed where they had left off.
In June she decided to fly out to San Francisco and spend a few days with Kevin. Getting away was not easy with the chickens needing daily care and the two dogs and the insane cat, but it could be worked out. She called a friend of Kevin’s who still lived in town. Sure, he would be happy to come out a couple times a day and gather the eggs and put them in the walkin cooler and play with the dogs and ignore the cat. Daisy and Elvira were very easy dogs. Couch potatoes to the max. The cat, Icarus was another matter, but then anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that cats are not owned.
Meg sent the note to Eldon. “Hey sweetie, I am going to San Francisco to spend a few days with Kevin. I will holler when I get back.” There was an immediate reply.
“Meg! Do you think it is wise to be flying with all the terrorist stuff going on? Can’t he come and see you? Who will take care of the farm? What about your eBay store?”
This was very uncharacteristic of Eldon. Actually a bit disturbing. She replied, “I have not seen Kevin in almost a year and have never been to California. I have a friend of his coming to watch the farm. I will put the store on vacation. I just don’t see the problem.”
“Meg, I just worry about you going off like that by yourself. When are you leaving? I want flight numbers and times. I will pray for you.”
“Oh, Eldon, you are so sweet. I will be fine and I am attaching my itinerary, so quit worrying.” She hit the attach button, chose browse and clicked on the itinerary file, and then hit send. There. But it did feel good to know he would be worried about her. Must care a little bit. Who knows, maybe someday.
She heard no more from Eldon that day or the next. The morning of her trip arrived and she emailed him a happy little note and heard nothing in return. So she drove to Denver, parked in the long term parking and caught the jet to San Francisco. This would be a glorious 4 days with Kevin. Nothing could spoil it for her, and when she came out of the tunnel and say Kevin she ran to him. Her son! He was brown and healthy and seemed happy. That was all she could hope for at this time.
The next few days were spent sight seeing and eating in Kevin’s favorite places. She visited his job site and met his staff. They all seemed pleasant enough. He had taken a few days off, so they were bumming. Meg had brought her jogging shoes and they ran on the trail behind his apartment each morning. The last day they went to the Golden Gate Bridge. The bridge glowed golden and the bay was calm and serene as they stood looking down from the bluff. “ I see why you love this place, son. California is definitely different than Colorado or Montana.”
Meg suddenly shuddered. Kevin looked startled. “What was that all about? Are you cold mom? “
She laughed. “No, it was just a rabbit ran across my grave, I guess. That is what Momma always used to say. I don’t know.” Meg turned slowly and caught sight of a tall man getting into a silver SUV. She had thought they were alone on the bluff, but apparently they were not. As she and Kevin started down the incline to the parking lot she watched the silver Jeep Cherokee slowly leave the lot and turn onto the highway. She wondered at the uneasy feeling in her chest, but dismissed it as a mother not wanting to leave her only son. That was all.
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