Krishna flexed his wrists and pulled on each individual digit of his hands until he heard a small popping sound from each joint. Today had been a seeding day and, as such, one of repetitive movements that left his fingers stiff. He was not looking forward to typing as a result since his strokes were stronger than what was required to press the keys. The florist did not trust his computer’s ‘silent’ keyboard, however, and would continue to pound the keys to insure that his messages were entered properly. The naturally quiet man normally did not care to reach out to others, but this case was different. It was time for his weekly Skyping session with Brahma.

Krishna was not technologically inclined as a general rule. That was not to say he did not use, or did not know how to use, technology. He had a cellphone and a computer, naturally; no business owner could survive in this day and age without both of these very necessary tools. Any program that he needed to know, be it Microsoft Excel or TurboTax, he would force himself to learn and could use proficiently. But he did not see the purpose of purchasing the latest tablet or e-reader or downloading the apps onto his phone that others swore by. Even if they were free of charge, they cluttered his phone.

Skype, however, was a program that he constantly upgraded, trained with, and mastered the newest features of. It was the cheapest, easiest way to communicate with his younger brother. Originally, the two communicated with hand written letters, then e-mail once said letters began to be more and more intercepted by their father. As instant messaging and video conferencing became more accessible, and affordable, biweekly letters and occasional phone calls had given way almost entirely to a weekly Skype meeting. (Provided, of course, that neither brother had other plans and no technological problems occurred.) Calls that did not use the computer as the phone were no reserved for special occasions or emergencies.

Krishna double clicked on the Skype icon and entered his user name and password when prompted. He was about ten minutes early, but he hoped Brahma might be early, too. An extra ten minutes was not much, ultimately, but it was ten more minutes than they would have spent together otherwise. The grayed out avatar indicated that his younger sibling was still absent. Ah well--he was not late, which was all the florist cared about. He could always enjoy his snack of steaming cup of tea and peanut butter sandwich while he waited. The chats were long, and he had long ago learned to be prepared to skip dinner and keep a snack on hand just in case. He also had several horticulture blogs that he followed, and that would help him occupy his time.

Checking two blogs occupied the ten minutes for Brahma to be on time. As Krishna knew his little brother had to catch a bus to get home, he did not mind, and even expected, to wait for a bit. He got caught up reading an online article from Better Homes and Gardens describing how to create a particularly lovely center piece and by the time he finished, his brother was ten minutes late. The florist did not get irritated until Brahma was half an hour late - enough time for Krishna to run through his entire favorites folder and finish a second cup of tea. If their meeting had needed to be cancelled or rescheduled, he would have gladly done so had his little brother asked.

As time continued to pass, irritation flared into aggravation, cooled to concern and sunk finally into a gut-grinding fear that was uncharacteristic of the confident Krishna. Brahma would never forget that they had a Skype session - and if he couldn’t make it, or something unexpected came up, he would have informed his older brother to keep him from worrying. If an e-mail could not be sent, then a text message would be. Or, in case of emergency, even a telephone call. Times like these made the distance between Destiny City and India a crushing reality to the protective Krishna. He had no money at present for an apartment, much less a plane ticket and lodging to visit his brother. If he was to make the trip and to suffer his father’s presence, it would be for far longer a visit than merely to see why he was late for a meeting.

A phone call would be a considerably cheaper means of checking on his brother, even with the long-distance fees. The only reason he hesitated to call Brahma was because if his younger brother could not appear for a conference call, then likely he was in a situation where he could not answer his cell phone. Krishna ruffled a hand slowly through his rainbow hair, trying to decide how best to proceed. The only path he knew he could not choose was to do nothing.

[Word Count: 836]