Tulip Hearts

[11]

I wish I could discuss everything with her, but I fear she might not understand me. I suppose I'll never know until I gather the courage to talk to her.

Twisting and turning in my bed, I glanced at the clock; it struck 10. I turned to my left and closed my eyes, attempting to get some sleep. However, after a few minutes, my eyes shot open as an unattended task surfaced in my mind.

"Oh no! How could I forget?" I jumped out of bed and rushed to switch on the lights in my room. I pulled out the chair from my study table and gathered all the science journals and books. After two hours of wrestling with pages, I closed the books and ran my hands through my hair. Why are her questions always so challenging?

A year ago, Dad brought home a computer and installed the internet. I hardly used it, believing that books were always better, and that both the device and service were complicated. I gazed at the computer covered with a white cloth. Getting up from the chair, I walked over to it and started looking for its plug cord.

"Okay, not so tough after all." I sighed and plugged it into the socket, turning it on. The light at the bottom of the black monitor blinked. While struggling with the keyboard and mouse, I heard my father clearing his throat as he stood at the door. I froze as he walked inside.

"What are you doing on the computer at this hour?" He glanced at the clock and faced me, his intense eyes glaring at me as if he had caught me doing something illegal.

"Dad, I was..." I tried to explain, but he cut me off.

"I know, Lovish. You are a teenager, and at this age, kids tend to explore things. But this is not the way. These things are misleading and not educational. Moreover, I got the internet installed for the ease of your education, not for these reasons." I wondered what he thought I was doing, starting with something I was completely unaware of.

"Dad, I just wanted to look for an answer on the internet since I didn't find it in the books." His eyes followed the direction of my hand as I pointed to the books on my table.

"Answer?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Yes, an answer. I wanted to know why a living person drowns, but a dead body floats. You told me that the internet has answers to all the questions, so I thought to look for it." His facial muscles relaxed as I explained myself.

"Oh, okay, alright. I thought..." He gulped and shrugged his shoulders, taking a chair to settle beside me.

"What did you think of?" He looked at me and shook his head in denial.

"Oh, nothing. It doesn't matter. It's good that you delve into the depths of science, and yes, the internet is indeed the best tool to get answers from. But why is it off?" He took the mouse from my hand and placed it on the mouse pad.

"I don't know how to use it. I didn't read the manual you asked me to." Scratching my neck, I timidly looked at him.

"I'll teach you." He pressed the button at the bottom of the monitor and another button on the rectangular box beside it, which I assumed was the CPU.

"Just switch on the CPU and the monitor." The screen blinked to a bright background, and he pressed a key on the keyboard. Using a mic, he navigated the white arrow through the screen before clicking on the icon shaped like 'e.'

"If you saw what I was doing, you must have learned how. After I switched it on, I opened the internet explorer through this." He pointed at the icon while a little blue circle ran at the bottom of the white arrow.

"What's the white arrow called? I forgot..." I bit my tongue, knowing how much my father hates my illiteracy in any field.

"It's okay. When you get into NDA, you're going to learn it all yourself. The libraries have many computers to help you with academics." He patted my back, and I managed to give him a small smile.