twitter, jaiku, pownce, facebook--and then what?

I spent more than half the day in the school clinic.

Why did this headache manage to pencil itself into my schedule, leading me to drop everything else and do what I could to stop it?

On my way downstairs I heard my classmates' voices. Oompa. I'm hearing things again. Or is that really them?

"Maybe you didn't get enough sleep last night?"

I did. Slept at 10, woke at 6. Ain't that following the Golden 8 Rule?

"Something you ate siguro."

Anong something I ate, something I ate? I ate, sure. Ikaw nga namigay eh.

"Rawr. Stressed ka kasi."

STRESSED? STRESSED KA DIYAN? I'M PERFECTLY FINE! SEE? PULSE. BEATING. VITAL SIGNS. MENTAL CLARITY. I STILL KNOW 1+1. AND I DO KNOW THAT I HAVE A REPORT ON WEDNESDAY, A PERFORMANCE ON FRIDAY AND A FACIAL ON SATURDAY. HOW CAN YOU SAY I'M STRESSED?!

"We'll bring you to the clinic. Init mo."

Oo na. May lagnat na ako. Susuko na ako. Show me the handcuffs.

"Mainit siya," Tin says to the nurse at the clinic.

And sure enough, the gun thermometer shows 3 and 7. With a .5 to boot.

"You want to lie down?" the nurse asks me. I smile faintly.

"Yes, please." As I lay down, I devote my time alone to think. What could have caused this headache?

I broke down every little thing I did the day before. And trust me, you wouldn't want to know. Beneath all the other little things lay a silent killer. It has been victimizing me ever since the day I reached 8,000 Paw Points on Pet Society.

Facebook.

I spent 6 hours on Facebook yesterday. Shocker? Not quite. Most kids my age can actually devote more time to this so-called book with your face on it. And yes, we are much aware of its consequences--eyestrain, carpal tunnel syndrome, shorter attention span, HEADACHES.

Bingo, and I have found the culprit.

I will attempt--nay, do--the almost-impossible; and will only give one hour of my time to Facebook. The first three days of my mission will kill me. It's for a good cause anyway.

Why must we yearn for the things we do not need?