Chapter 1
Maya
They say some things are meant to happen. That no matter how strongly you desire it, plead, and do everything in your reach, it is impossible to change its trajectory. All the life of the brunette felt that way; like a series of unalterable events. She was in her room again after a long day in high school. She had just finished with her chores of the day and she was sure that in any moment from now she would erupt in crying.
Sometimes the days were quiet, without any relevant facts; these were the ones that weighed on her the most. She felt that her life was made up of thousands of these and only a few with real significance, she counted every second wasted and yet there was no way to alter all this. The young woman left a sigh of tiredness of doing nothing and took her cell phone. Her fingers moved deftly across the screen as if that were their only purpose. The seconds turned into minutes and finally into hours, and before she least thought about it, it was already dawn. Again, she had not achieved anything relevant that day. She often stayed up late without any clear objective, she could not understand the reason because nothing she did caused her a need for continuity.
Bitterly, she changed into her nightclothes, brushed her teeth, and left without first looking at herself in her old mirror, watching how her face was darkened by dark circles under her eyes for no reason to exist. She lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a few seconds. Her mind wandered between all the scenarios, of a possible yes, of all the opportunities in which her destiny could have changed, she thought about her mistakes, her successes, and that she needed help. She did not look for conventional means such as telling one of his relatives or friends, well, it was a resounding no, since it would mean a nuisance for them; although both groups would tell her that they were happy to hear what she felt about multiple situations, she would feel the discreet looks of concern. And she hated that others would notice that she lacked something.
For this reason, she picked up her cell phone again and entered a new website that had become popular. Its name was: “Anonymous for Two Centuries” a pretentious name in her opinion, but thousands of other teenagers commented on how useful this last-generation artificial intelligence proved to be. It was a free app with enough reviews to make her believe that it would help her feel a little better, even if it was a robot… What was she thinking? It was ridiculous to seek comfort in something inanimate, but when the rest of the options seemed like a resounding no, it didn’t sound so bad. Besides, it couldn’t be so bad when half a million people had already had the same idea as her.
She pressed the install button and saw how the download percentage increased rapidly. The premise of this application was different from other similar ones, even a little outdated, as it invited the user to a messaging concept; that is, they had to write a letter for the artificial intelligence to provide them with an answer. It didn’t bother her having to write a little more than a few words, and the developers claimed that the more details you provided, the better the communication would be.
Finally, it was installed and soon the app icon appeared with its bouquet of flowers and a letter. She opened the app and was greeted with a ding. She filled a few questions to have a more personalized experience and be assigned to her messaging partner. Data such as her name, age, nationality, among others. Finally, she unlocked the next stage of the login, and a screen was displayed on which she could start writing the message she wanted. She was sleepy, her long eyelashes opening and closing in an attempt to keep her awake a little longer, simultaneously, her fingertips lazily typed a message.
Dear stranger:
I’m not sure how to write this letter. In fact, I don’t know what I’m doing, exchanging letters with someone I won’t know (is it right to call you as someone and not as something?) I think I’m curious about how this works. I hope no one ever sees what I write to you, as they will think I am crazy. Either way, I hope this works. I heard other people say that it is a good place to let go of burdens. Tell me a little about yourself, by the way, my name is Maya. I am sorry that this letter is so short, I promise that in the future they will be better.
Sincerely yours, Maya
She didn’t bother to check her message a second time and clicked the send button, feeling absurd about the whole situation, but that didn’t matter anymore, anyway, she had already started the conversation. Embarrassed by her innocent action, she closed the app and set her alarm for the next day, overlooking the fact that tomorrow would be Saturday, in other words, her “rest” day. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, because her sleepless nights were more of an attempt to prolong her days further, ignoring the feeling of tiredness that her eyelids manifested.
