A Fool's Joke

Fresh idea, it isn't. But I took the cliche, and applied it to my Facebook page. It is time to shake the guarded image, if only to share in the spirit of the April Fool's day.

A few hours before my night shift ends, the big announcement was made. That on the first day of April, I became in a relationship. The response from friends was swift, the joy they felt, intense. A guy, who I was supposed to meet for sex last year, even sent a heartfelt message on Twitter. I was shaking my head while responding with appreciation. It took a few more comments on my wall for everyone to realize that it was a joke. That it was a trick I pulled off, hoping so many people will believe.

And they did.

Thirty seven "likes" and counting; against the posted day of union, and successful attempts of killjoys to blow my cover; it seems, human nature will go against the obvious for some grain of truth of a romance budding.

The truth, however, is much easier to glean: in the pervading silence between two men who had just dated, to the apparent distance both showed on social media, and in the growing uncertainty that maybe, one submits to another too soon. These, the heart wouldn't disclose in public.

Better to save face than to admit defeat.

In the meantime, the trickery on Facebook has revealed a poignant afterthought; a musing that cannot be put into words to keep the emotions from spilling. After all the sighs and chuckles, and upon knowing the relationship is nothing but a creation of the imagination, the questions of singlehood returns to haunt, now with more probing questions than clear answers.

   

And yes, the fact remains.

I am unbound and will be for a time, and when I am found - if ever such time comes - in no way I will announce to the public the romantic milestone. For after all these years, I remain, terrified to walk completely out of the closet.