he saying goes, "a small spark kindles a big flame". Naturally, one can interpret that in a number of ways. But sparks, of a diametrically opposed variety, were evident both in the discourse that CMR and I exchanged, and also on the ILW message board.A small group of members of ILW had commonly chatted together on a number of occasions. I'd affectionately called the clan the "Famous Five", after the popular British detective book series authored by Enid Blyton in the 1940s, yet still considered staple reading material for any British schoolgirl.
In Blyton's works, Julian, Dick and Anne are siblings who spend their holidays at Uncle Quentin's and join cousin, Georgina, who insists on being called "George". George was a tomboy and eagerly dressed the part to include a closely cropped hairstyle. She was headstrong with a fiery temper. Julian, the natural leader and mentor of the group, was very clever and quick to sniff out clues. Dick, the joker was, behind a jovial facade, a very thoughtful and gentle soul. Anne had the motherly instinct over the group despite being the youngest and wasn't always supportive of the escapades they'd be contemplating, but went along as a loyal follower. And then Timmy, the dog, was mascot of the group.
The Famous Five had a habit of stumbling upon incidents, and were committed to solving any mystery, no matter what scrapes they encountered.
Such was the case when an impostor appeared on ILW in late January. Hijacking the moniker of my friend irritated, the impostor caused a lot of havoc, and the Famous Five set out to find out who was behind the prank. We'd often chat together throughout the night analysing one post after another to see if we could learn the real identity of the troll. A variety of suspects were noted, and through a process of elimination, each one carefully considered, the group set out to identify the culprit. Although it was for the most part a fun way to pass the time, and the troll had not done any particular damage other than to be critical of a few members, myself included, there were some facts posted on the board by the impostor which all five of us thought was content from our private group chat sessions. That caused some natural curiosity within the group. Could it be that one of "us" was indeed the impostor?
This would create a level of mistrust amongst the group that was disquieting, to say the least. Trust had been something that I had offered faithfully in the past only to be terribly mistaken, but I had grown to know CMR much better than the others and felt I could quite comfortably speak of his reliability and integrity to the rest. Further, on the basis of what he had shared with me in our private chat sessions, I knew that he would never discredit me, so I automatically ruled him out and set out to prove that, perhaps to the dismay of the remaining members of our group. I would remain loyal to that task.
While the ILW saga was unfolding, CMR and I were traversing new ground in our chats. He was becoming more challenged with the "guardian angel" role he'd adopted. Finding ourselves more and more drawn to each other and less able to resist the temptation to keep in close contact, the conversations implied that an emotional and physical attraction was developing between us. Little sparks were calling forth flames of passion that neither of us expected, yet both, I think, enjoyed. We joked about the angel being reassigned due to impropriety, but as the proverb goes, many a true word is spoken in jest. CMR had become a central figure in my daily life, and I was enjoying him immensely.
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