So lonely...so lonely...

/cry

/need a hug

This town...is looking like a ghost town...(The Specials)

Sure enough, except for me, this squirrel and an undead mage or two, Dal is depleted. You who are familiar with the world, much more experienced and savvy than little two-horned me, knew this would happen. You knowingly smirked at the elementals coming to town before the big patch, saying "Ah, yes, remember when zombies roamed all over Stormwind (chuckle, smirk)?" Before Cata, everyone was scrambling to get the pre-patch cheeves, ones that won't come our way again. (I got a pretty necklace, and subsequently guilted into giving another one up in a dungeon by a whiney player. Why am I so damn nice?) I am sorry I missed the zombies, missed most, or if not all, of the Lich King (we still have some unresolved issues...can I get closure people!?) If Lady Jaina goes on Oprah to talk about their celebrity marriage, I'm going to punch someone in the throat.

But this is about me.

And the squirrel.

If nothing else, having 12,000,000 humans spend time in this world says something profound...human relationships are made and broken minute-by-minute in this game. People act like more racists, sexists, pigs, idiots and dorks in one minute of Trade Chat than in the last century. You know who you are.

But those same vulnerable humans also make friends, enjoy the world, and congratulate each other on their successes, too, and pick each other up from their failures. I was fortunate to quest with such a friend, but I suspect that due to real human conditions, he/she may not be able to play now. I don't know their "real" gender, I don't care; I don't know who they are, where they live, what they do, or who they know -- I'm a virtual creation, and live in a virtual space. Ah, the great unseen...I know you're still out there. In the tough human world of middle-class diminishment and capped incomes, the new Cata patch and monthly dues are just not in your guild bank right now. But, my human misses them, and hopes they are doing okay. I left a forwarding address in the mail box, and a message in an empty Captain Rumsey's bottle floating out in Booty Bay...

So, here I sit, missing my questing friends more than I can write (heart squeeze). I'll level up, do the new dungeons, pick fleas off of my guildmates' new Worgen fur coats, and carry your banner in my guildbank. Please come back if you can. It's draining my mana.