Did You Blink?

Who blinked, because it's already the first Monday in February. Was your January a blur too? Master was talking the other night and saying how He knows a few people that have completely given up the internet. No Netflix, Hulu or whatever. They do have regular cable, but nothing exciting, just the bare-bones stuff. One person, He admitted, does get movies in the mail by Netflix. For some reason, this discussion sent mouse into a mental panic. We don't have internet access at the lake and honestly cannot say we've missed it much, but that's only for a couple months, year around? 

How do you do stuff? Pay bills? Find a carpenter? Are there still phonebooks to let your fingers do the walking? Sure, if your area doesn't have internet, like for us a couple months a year, still mouse will go to the coffee shop, connect to their free wifi and surf the web, check the blog..Ok, there's not a lot that she must do. Master handles all the business end stuff...All this gave mouse another thought. 

How does He manage during the summer? He paused for a moment and looked at mouse before saying it was nothing she needed to be concerned with. Then He asked when did we ever need a carpenter? He was more than capable of repairs, and watched mouse carefully as she lowered her eyes in embarrassment. Master's admonishment made her forget for a moment or three about the discussion as He sent to her kitchen to fetch His snack and get dinner started.

Master was settled in His chair when mouse returned with an iced tea and snack, and knelt down to remove His shoes when the thought returned, and she asked Him if we were getting rid of the internet, and she can't even say why she would ask that, except the whole discussion felt strange to her. In a rare moment Master flashed with anger at mouse and raised His voice.

It was just a topic and mouse needed to stop that brain of hers into reading more than there was...

The next moment mouse's cheeks turned red, and she apologized for bothering Him, tears formed and she returned to the kitchen. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes that passed as mouse was sniffling and cutting up onions for the meal, and Master came into the kitchen. Naturally, she tried to cover up the fact she was embarrassed by her behavior by blaming the onions. Not believing a word of it, He gathered mouse into His arms and held her tightly as larger tears just poured. He said He was sorry for snapping at her. It was just a topic He found curious was all, and with all His work He has and will be doing from home, no internet was a ridiculous option for us.

It did leave Him to wonder a little, why was she so upset by this? He asked to see her laptop and told her to kneel at His feet as He looked through. Satisfied this slave wasn't wasting the day online, He closed it and asked why it distressed her. It really didn't except that she felt very isolated and without the internet it would be even more so. Master nodded and said nothing more on the subject, just enough words to send mouse back to the kitchen.

Throughout dinner, Master seemed unusually quiet as He ate, sure He smiled a few times and nodded once or twice, and this made mouse even more quiet than usual too. He went to mouse after she had cleaned up the kitchen, and said He was worried about her feelings of isolation. He wanted her unplugged from all social media, especially Twitter for a while, and worried that would only further add to those feelings of isolation.

Echo chambers, He carefully explained to mouse are dangerous things, because they create a false sense of reality. Just like propaganda of any kind can be used for ill, it fosters a sense of hopelessness in people, which Master said feeds depression in sensitive people like mouse. As He explained all this, He held her to His chest. It's His duty to protect mouse from harmful things and people. He asked her to be a good girl and obey Him.

The first day was simple and the days that followed, easy, then there was this feeling of being disconnected. Then suddenly everything changed, at the grocery store she overheard people talking about a helicopter crash that killed several people. Even though she wasn't connected to anything the tragic story found her. If only something good traveled so far.

That evening Master told mouse a good story from His own life, a childhood story she never heard before. then He wrapped Himself around making her feel very safe and we made love. It was the kind of sex that used up the whole bed and we landed on the floor. This being disconnected from the world isn't such a terrible thing after all.