UNPLUGGED - PART 1 (The Comedy of Comparison)

Rohan was scrolling through Instagram at one in the morning, the glow of his phone the only light in his room.

On his screen, a college friend was kissing the Eiffel Tower. 

Next swipe, another friend was unboxing the latest iPhone. 

Next swipe, a guy from the office was showing off his gym abs with the caption, “Hard work pays off.”

Rohan looked down at himself. He was sitting cross-legged on his bed in a faded engineering T-shirt, eating Maggi straight out of a steel vessel.

He laughed out loud. 

“Wow. People are out there posting Eiffel Tower selfies, and I am here celebrating because I found two extra Maggi packets in the kitchen. Achievement unlocked.”

He slurped the noodles dramatically, pretending it was gourmet pasta. Then he raised the vessel like a wine glass. “To Paris,” he said, and took another bite.

For a moment, he actually entertained himself. He felt like the star of a stand-up act that only he would ever watch.

But when the laughter died, the silence hit harder. He scrolled again. More vacations. More smiles. More people moving ahead. And deep inside, a thought crept in. 

"Maybe I am just not enough."

To be continued...

#flashfiction #shortstories #socialmedia #life