Up until that point it had clearly been a slow news day, even by my standards, so I was interested to see what stories had captured the eyes of the world. Would it be monumental, earth shattering and life altering stuff? Dare I risk it? Throwing caution to the wind and another bite of cheesecake into my mouth, I clicked on THE top trending story ... not just any piece of trending news, we're talking the democratically elected, first place-getter of news, the mother of all news ...
I read the article from start to finish, but unable to digest what I had read, I was forced to read it again. I was stunned. I was on a New Zealand website and knew that this story would be even bigger overseas. I was eager to see how people, worldwide were reacting to the news, so I quickly followed links. I finally got to a piece of video that was responsible for this "breaking news".
I imagined the reaction of people seeing it.
The images would be similar to those shown around the world, after hearing the news of JFK's assassination. People would be huddled around store fronts, watching giant-screened TVs, others stopping dead in their tracks as they read it on iPhones and quickly tweeted their nearest and dearest to share the story. Facebook would be going crazy, new pages would be starting by the dozen.
There would be tears, heated exchanges, bitterness, a whole raft of emotions. Things could even get nasty as one camp of supporters attacks the other. Many will be left feeling betrayed.
Would people ever recover from this event and go on to live productive lives? I have my doubts.
You probably all read it too and know exactly what story I'm referring to. It was trending news, for heaven's sake, how could you not know?
I rushed over to notify the withered old crone, I didn't want her to be on her own when she found out. I was too late, she had already heard it on National Radio. She was shaken but was holding up remarkably well, considering the news ...
J.K.Rowling admits Hermione should have married Harry.
It's only now, after going through the grieving process, that I can even bring myself to talk about it.
Top bloody news story, worldwide, as voted by the people ... to make it worse the central characters aren't even real. Yet that's what we choose to be big news. The real news might be what that says about us. investik8@gmail.com
Kate Stewart is an unemployed, reluctant mother of three, currently running amok in the city.
