The camera was pointed up at the night sky, then panned to a house in a well-off neighborhood. 

And so it zoomed in, zoomed into a window and into a chilly bedroom. 

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It had been a long day, I've finally came home from work. The air inside the room was heavenly, something I was craving after being outside for so long. 

I laid there on my bed scrolling through reels. A few funny videos appeared here and there, pranks, cats & dogs. You name it. 

Nothing too notable though, and nothing has caught my attention yet. And so I kept scrolling, until I didn't even notice that hours has passed. But, hey? I deserved this time-off. 

My stomach rumbles, it was a cue for me to eat, but food can wait. I'm not in a rush to make anything or eat anything. It's too comfortable here. So I decided to stay in my bed, scrolling and scrolling. That is until I found a post. 

"Huh? Isn't this a bit sensitive to be around here?" I thought to myself. there must be a lot of arguments in the comment section just like the defendants and the lawyers, and an unorganized jerry rigged court. 

The post had a picture, a picture which captured the scenery of an abandoned urban background, and possibly a war-torn one? 

There were three figures in that picture. One of them was sitting slumped with his back on the wall while looking down, it was obvious that it screams "defeat" and a man that has had no paths left. 

The other figure was next to him cooking canned food ontop of a fire, glancing at the figure that's laying on the ground. 

And the last of the bunch laid on the ground, alive, but it doesn't take a genius to know that he's seen things. 

Even without deeply analyzing it, I knew that he was deeply affected by whatever was happening, his body was visibly malnourished. 

Their faces were covered by the military helmet that they're wearing, along with a baclava under it. But even with that, deep down, I could see their expressions. 

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

It was disturbing, everything about the post was disturbing. It was strange that the moderators hasn't taken it down by now. 

I stopped scrolling for a moment to soak in what I was seeing and, instantly, I went towards the comments. 

There were a lot of comments, and as expected. Most of them were arguments, justifying this, justifying that. Defending this, mocking that. 

Why was I even looking deep into this post, again? It's just a picture. There's nothing neat about it, it wasn't about cats, or realistic cartoon drawings, or people showing off their talents. 

I was about to click off from the post, until I came across a comment that reads as follows. 

"It's just a waste of resources, bro. 

Why go fight over something, I dont see any reasons for this."

Another. 

"It doesn't matter who started the war, they're fighting for their country. Have some respect."

And another. 

"Lmao, are they starving? Yeah, they shouldn't have started this. Deal with it."

Some were more empathathic than others, some were unhinged. Something that couldn't really be avoided, after all, we love to share our opinions especially without the consequences of it. 

"Well... that's that. Isn't that interesting to see." I said to myself while scrolling through the comments, seeing similar responses as the last one. And only a handful of few were acknowledging the situation. 

At some point, it's as if they weren't even focused on the post anymore. They were too invested in defending what their opinions are, like a fortress against a horde of foot soldiers. 

It was endless, the comments, the replies. I was astonished to see that some of the "rage baiters" had around fifty-thousand replies.

"Huh, attention is really is everything." I can't imagine how much enjoyment they were having from this.

I couldn't help but to wonder, what made them blurt out and say words like that. Plain unfiltered words, that is. After that train of thought ended, I saw one commentator that said, 

"I think we should be more sensitive to things like this." And as expected, there were a lot of replies to that short comment. 

And so I tapped on it, naturally, I was curious on what the replies are. It was similar, taking sides. Not with the commentator, but taking sides on which side had more "noble" intentions. Some justified that they deserved it, and some? Argued otherwise. 

To put it mildly, it was chaotic. And that was an understatement. At this point, I was feeling uncomfortable. So much so that I kept re-adjusting my position in my bed. 

I shouldn't really think much of it, it's just something that's happening elsewhere. Not my problem, I have a more pressing issues at hand. Work-related things, and even mortgages. 

I decided that I should continue scrolling, I don't really know how and why I was in this post for so long, stalking the comments and so on. My attention span was basically non-existent, so for a post to grab my attention this firmly? It was something. 

Just as I was about to close the comment section, I noticed another picture that was uploaded by someone. It wasn't any propagandas, mockery, or any make peace symbols like the others sent. It was of a survivor, their clothings tattered. The dust of concrete on their clothes spoke a tale of the experience they went through. 

I felt something stirring up within my heart. Sadness? Empathy? Or was it something else? Whatever it was, I continued scrolling through the reels. 

But even after a while, I couldn't get the images out of my mind. I grabbed my blanket and pushed it away from me as I sat up. 

My feet slipped into the slippers on the floor just next to my bed. I opened my bedroom's door, and made my way into the kitchen to make a glass of coffee. 

As I stood there in the kitchen, waiting for the coffee to brew. I thought that It was late, really late at night. I looked at the clock on the wall, it's hands were pointed at 11:54 p.m.

I shouldn't sleep late, I have work tomorrow. But... it's not wrong to treat myself just once, it was a rare luxury to have some free time. Might aswell have it now. 

And so I opened the door to my room. I've just noticed how cold it was compared to the temperature inside the kitchen. I placed the cup of coffee on a nightstand nearby, went to bed and snuggly pulled the blanket near my neck. 

I reached for my phone and grabbed it, scrolling through the reels again. 

"Isn't it ironic that the reels are called so? It's really reeling me in." I said to myself, trying to get a laugh. But at the same time, I couldn't help but be reminded of the pictures. 

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