The Ad

Henry was a dear friend who had a common life without concerns that liked to be a joker and always supported me until the day that I learned that he had died of unexplained causes, and I didn't even want to believe that was his body in the morgue. I went to the funeral with a lump in my throat.

I remember that attendees said things, things that I couldn't understand at the time, but I didn't care, and was preparing to leave when someone handed me a letter, which Henry wrote before his death. Besides incomprehensible squiggles, all I could read was this:

''I hate computers. I don't know what's so striking or interesting to my friends, and the rest of humanity. They're only good for waste your time, or isolate yourself from the world. ''

''Yesterday was my birthday, so what did I receive? A stupid laptop. I would prefer something else, but something caught my attention, the fellow who gave it to me put a song I haven't heard since childhood.''

''Nostalgia hit me and I smiled closing my eyes, remembering those good times. From that day I started to search for songs through my laptop, my new comrade.''

''I lost my job, and some friends, but I did not care, and I continued listening to music, everything around me began to lose color, I thought they were just hallucinations, why I ignored that? Why didn't I leave the laptop and get my life back? When I wondered this it was already too late....''

One day I started to hear that beautiful tune, and something made me pause the song, an ad, yellow, bright, with the statement:

"When will you die?"

''I think someone smarter would have ignored that call for self-destruction, but my curiosity overcame me and I clicked on it. The window of my tune closed abruptly, at the moment a new window opened, empty, with only the color black as background... and that phrase. Now in black... What prompted me to continue? I loaded the page again, and to my surprise something different appeared time:''

"Right now, I'm going home!"

''My mind turned back to me for those few seconds, and I threw the laptop as far as possible, terrified, running from that place... what I saw while I was fleeing was disturbing, from the laptop a hand begin to rise, it was big, white, and without nails, whose fingers moved in a strange way.''

''When I left my house the madness had drowned any sanity left in my mind. I was slowly losing my eyesight, and nothing that I could still see made sense. I actually just wanted to escape that diabolical nightmare, but it is too late for me, as I write these lines I am hidden, waiting for my chaser, whom lacked the jaw, and had white, hideous hands... goodbye forever.''

After reading the letter, I felt too sick to go to my therapy group, and went home, turned on my computer and... It was there. The ad, brilliant and deadly, the one that took my friend. Now I remember what they said... they were trying to warn me... If only I had listened... If only I had burned the letter... I wouldn't be on the edge of my window, trying to escape from my mistake.