The Quiet Room

Mia moved to a new city last year, and she joined a social media app to meet people.

At first, she posted photos of her coffee and her new apartment every day.

Strangers liked her pictures, and some of them left kind comments, which made her feel less alone.

After a few months, however, Mia noticed something strange.

She had hundreds of online friends, but nobody called her on her birthday.

One evening, while she was scrolling through photos of a party she was not invited to, she felt a heavy weight in her chest.

She closed the app and sat in the quiet room, listening to the rain.

Then she called her old friend, Anna, who lived two hours away.

They talked for an hour about small things, and Mia laughed for the first time that week.

Now she uses the app less and meets Anna for lunch once a month.