Your True Tales
November 2005 – Page 17

Ghost of the Internet Cafe
by James DeVere

This story happened in the heart of Sydney, in a popular Net cafe, on a perfectly normal, busy afternoon. I was e-mailing friends, surfing the Net and playing on a computer at 5 p.m. I wanted to play with the paintbox. I started painting a picture of Christ. I was also writing a message, "Go to Jesus!" with Microsoft Word. I was creating pictures and words to try and communicate with any spirits in the room. Picture me, writing Christian words and painting rough images of Jesus on a bright screen. Let's say my handiwork was visible to all there.

Suddenly, as I created, I felt the hair on the back of my neck. They shot upward with ice. I spun around! Behind me stood a man. I was losing control then. I panicked. "What are you looking at?!" I asked rudely and out of control. His presence made nearly yell, "Why don't you mind your business?"

A pretty, blonde young woman typing on the computer next to me noticed him, too. In fact, she was tuned in to us both. Such was the man's closeness, she too was asking me, "What's he want?" The scene of the many around us seemed frozen. No one else noticed the man – just the girl, myself and the man.

I turned around and looked straight at him. He was looking only at the screen with a sad look, a listless and lost look in his eyes. He said gently, "What?.." looking past me at the Christian art I had created on the computer.

The feeling was incredible, a busy room, a sad, lost man dressed in black transfixed by my paintings of Jesus. A frozen and panicky sense of dread was there. Then the man left. He just walked away, without a sound. I watched as he left the busy room onto the promenade outside.

The atmosphere returned to normal again. The girl and me were also left wondering what was going on. Had we seen a lost soul seeking a savior? He was so gentle, quiet and sad he felt like a ghost. Time then froze. I know my art was a catalyst for a wandering and lost soul searching for his answer.

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