Apolobtuse

{Episode opens as the camera pans across a shadowy living room and focuses on a hand reaching for ☕️ as its owner thumbs their 📱 to life, clicking on the Vocal bookmark as the screen lights up.}

Becky checks out her Wallet, just like every other Vocal Creator, purses her 👄 as she shuffles through the pages to try analyze what stories are getting noticed.

Then, as usual, she goes to her 27 Facebook groups devoted to Vocal Creators & their stories, poems, sci-fi, and horror writing. One by one she dives and flits, skillfully avoiding the ‘woe is me’ and ‘engage!/read!/clap!/follow!’ entreaties of the never-commenters.

Next comes Vocal Discord, and Becky refills her ☕️ before she opens the General channel.

“They’re back”, she mutters aloud to herself.

“They’re back, apologizing for what they already apologized about doing before they did it: they didn’t write anything for a week while ‘on break to clear the toxicity’.”

“Oh, come on. We all know that wasn’t a real apology then and it isn’t one now.”

“Ok- we all have people we enjoy reading, their own work and/or their comments. But unless you are writing me a check, Alice, there’s no reason to apologize for not writing on this platform. We’ll survive while you do you.”

“Y’know? You could apologize for your two word comments, thinly-veiled cutting quips, dramatic exasperation, and making everything about you.”

“Like that’ll happen. Sorry-not-sorry, Alice.”

{Camera pulls back; Becky sips and thumbs to Latest Stories.}

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Comments welcome.