A (Too) Quiet Morning

Note: This post was originally a reply to an excellent short story by @adsactly titled "The Internet Is Broken". I thought this particular response to be horrifying enough to get it's own post. My very first post, in fact. Enjoy.

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I once woke up to a world without internets. No new emails, no texts, no calls even; suspicious.

I guess I'm the first one up! I brushed my teeth, nothing. Took a shower, nothing! Had I lost my job and no one told me? Am I in a Truman-show-type reality and today is the day I find out? I need to find a boat, I thought. I'm distracted.

I drove to my office, the radio worked. The topic of discussion? An accident and an anti-fracking protest at the capital. What? Certainly someone was going to address this internet thing. Somebody out there was going to empathize with me. Not a word about it. I arrived at work.

The receptionist greeted me "good morning" - this was a good sign. I made my way upstairs, my things were still in my office. An even better sign. I hadn't lost my job! I thought I was going crazy, but everything is the same, just quieter. That day was just a slow-start, non-emergent, nothing pressing kind of Monday morning, wow - what a relief!

"There you are!" my boss exclaimed as he appeared in the doorway of my office.

"Hey! Good morning, man!" I replied, "wow, what I quiet morning! I was freaking out on the way to work, no calls, no emails, I thought the internet was broken!" I laughed, "You know," I continued, "...it's days like today that I really appreciate my job. No hassles, no stress, no emergencies. Don't get me wrong... I enjoy the tough times too, but every once-in-a-while" I laughed again "...it's nice to come in to the office with a clear, calm mind, and..."

"I'm going to stop you right there" he sharply replied. "Not only have I been trying to get a hold of you all morning, but so has everyone else, shit has hit the fan with your accounts, no one received orders and they all claim to have sent them directly to you last night! We are seriously f*cked here - - why you weren't getting back to us is literally all anyone has been talking about this morning!"

"My phone!" I started "has no connection!" I threw it to him, panicked. "I have not received a single call, no texts, I have been looking..."

He tossed it back "It was on airplane mode", he said, "you have some calls to make."

It began lighting up with notifications like nothing I had ever seen. The individual "dings" resembled a long, off-putting ringtone reminiscent of ones I created on the Nokia 3310 as a kid. Wide-eyed, I watched more than 40 messages come through, one after another.

I set it on my desk and looked at my boss.

"I have some calls to make..."

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Inspiration to tell my ghastly tale found here--> https://steemit.com/fun/@adsactly/adsactly-fun-the-internet-is-broken