• I watched through the prodigious windows in amazement as the airplanes took off at 150 miles an hour. My heart, however, was beating faster. Little more than ten minutes remained until she arrived. Standing up was its own hardship; the airport was travelling at the speed of light and my head was blender, grinding up my mind as I tried to comprehend what was happening. Sweat flooded down my face, seeping into my eyes as I wiped them furiously so as to be able to keep them focused on the clock ticking lethally, bearing down on me like the cruel sun on the Sahara Desert. The sea became a storm and the whole deck tipped to one side. I light-headedly wandered over to a pillar to lean against for support. I could have sit down, of course, but that would have presented even more problems.
    Each passing second felt like another nail in my coffin. Was it really the right time? Was I really prepared? Would this be anything more than a total shambles? Would our relationship really get stronger? Or would it get weaker? Or would it, perhaps, be a Kobayashi Maru? So many questions rattled around in my head as I tried desperately to grasp at any piece I could find, in a desperate attempt to fit the puzzle together. Just as I almost fit the small cardboard pieces together, they liquefied in my hands like molten lead and scurried away again. It was my first time meeting a girl I’d been in a relationship with (and, of course, deeply and madly in love with) for five years.
    Technology is a strange thing. It opens new doors, new paths in life. Yet people still persecute those who come together over the internet. True love can’t be found if you’ve not met in person. True love is only found when you’ve seen the person, first. It can’t happen just by talking and getting to know them. At least, that’s all I ever hear from ignorant fools who are too moronic to understand the concept of love. The old ways of meeting people – when the latest technology was the colour television – are obsolete. People are too scared to do things differently. They’re too afraid of being rejected, and feel that the relationship is more secure in person. It’s all just a joke, to them. Let the laugh, let them jeer. For, from this point on, our relationship would be in the flesh. We would see, feel and hear each other in ways which can’t be done with a cheap Argos-brand webcam/microphone combo.
    Yes, that was what would make our relationship stronger. We would be able to overcome the boundaries of technology: The fact that it’s not human. You cannot interact with a computer as you can with a human (Although, I’d assume anyone over the age of 4 would realise that), and that is why true love eludes many people; their human urges force them to cast their love aside for something more... something closer. Patience is something I’ve never been great with, but for her, I’d gladly make an exception.
    Along the way, many people have scrutinized our relationship. My friends, who don’t “believe in internet relationships”; her overprotective parents who couldn’t drop their belief that I was a 40 year old teen-hunter living in his mother’s basement; the media who portray true love as being “Looks first, Soul second”; and an array of other things I would really like to refrain from mentioning. However, just because the masses today are too shallow to hold anything dear without first evaluating the packaging, doesn’t mean we have to follow them like lost sheep. I truly believe that our love is so much more than you could ever expect from any “normal” relationship. Our bonds are so strong that fate, distance and persecution could not corrode them, and the rebirth of our relationship would begin today. We would move on up to the next level.
    My vision became clearer as the ship docked safely to the harbour. The airport came to a halt and my mind was calmer. The PA system called out to the people. In three minutes, her flight would touch down safely on the runway. In just three small minutes, I would be granted a wish I’d had for five whole years; I would meet the love of my life...