AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hello everybody! I am back after like an almost year-long hiatus! School has been crazy and stuff, with jobs and midterms and finals and projects and stuff, but I'm back! This is my comeback; another Arthur story! Arthur meets a new mysterious friend on the Internet. Express Messenger is based off MSN by the way, and I made Arthur 10 years old in this story since I think 8 is way too young to be meeting an online friend. However I thought this would be an interesting concept, so I decided to try it out.
I do not own MSN or Arthur. All rights go to their respectful owners.
Arthur was in the living room, typing away at the keyboard.
"Oh hello!" he greeted the camera joyfully, as he turned to the lens. "Don't you just love weekends? On weekends, I get to play on the computer for as long as I want! And where do I play such cool stuff? The Internet!"
"What's the Internet?" asked DW, who then appeared in front of the camera lens too, "Is it an amusement park full of dolls and more Mary Moo Cow stuff?"
"Oh come on DW, not Mary Moo Cow again, and no, it's not an amusement park!"
"Well, what is it then?"
"Alright, noob, it's a place on the computer where you can do all sorts of neat things!"
"Like? And what's a noob?"
"Okay, okay. I'll tell you what a noob is later. But first, the Internet is sort of like a library that you use on the Internet. Why? Because you use it to look for all sorts of different things. If you want to look for a book on Mary Moo Cow, you may be able to read one online. If you wanted to play a Crazy Bus game, you could find it and play it online. And if you wanted to, say, write a report on ummmm…..frogs and flies, you can use it to look for information about frogs!"
"Cool!" said DW, "But what are you doing? Are you writing a letter to someone or something?"
Arthur turned to the screen. "Uhhhh…yeah. It's a friend named…..ummm…Chris."
"Who's Chris?" asked DW, "And what does he look like?"
"I don't know," said Arthur, "But he seems nice!"
"How do you know?" asked DW, squinting her eyes with suspicion.
Arthur turned to the camera lens again, facing the audience.
"But are there times in which there are certain things that we should not be doing on the Internet?"
AFTER THE TITLECARD:
Arthur was staring at the clock, watching as the hands ticked by. It was another surprise math pop quiz given by Mr Ratburn, but he actually cared less because it was always a routine in his class.
"Arthur!" said Mr Ratburn in a firm voice, "Please concentrate on your work. Time will be up before you know it,"
But then time eventually passed, until the bell rang. 3 o'clock, ready to go home. Arthur maintained a grin on his face as he handed his paper over to his teacher.
"You seem in a very good mood, Arthur," said Mr Ratburn.
"Oh, thank you!" chuckled Arthur.
Buster and Arthur then walked out the school building together.
"What are you so happy about?" asked Buster. "Let me guess…..is it because of the new Bionic Bunny game I got? Do you want to come over and play it with me?"
"No," said Arthur, "I met a new friend!"
"Ooooh, where?"
"The Internet!"
"The Internet? What's his name?"
"His name is Chris,"
"What is Chris like?"
"Well….."
FLASHBACK:
Arthur was surfing the net when his phone rang. He picked up the receiver.
"Hello?"
"Hey Arthur!"
"Oh, hi Binky! What's up?"
"Nothing much, just surfing the net,"
"Oh, same here,"
"What are you doing on the Internet right now?"
"Oh, nothing, just looking at stuff,"
"Well, if you ever want to meet people around the world, there's this website called Express Messenger,"
"Express Messenger? What's that?"
"It's a website where you can meet people from all over the world, and chat to them online. It's sort of like calling, but without having to pay for phone calls. Everything is free!"
"Wow, sounds great! What is the address?"
Binky told Arthur the URL and Arthur instantly typed it in the address box.
Arthur immediately found the website and rushed to create an account for himself.
"Hmmmm…..what shall my username be? Arthur…..no….Someguy…..no…ahhh…..BionicFan123! That's it!"
Arthur typed in his new username.
"Great! It's available!"
Arthur sorted out the other personal information and before he knew it, his account was eventually authenticated.
"Great, now I can chat to people from all around the world!"
Arthur browsed through the list of chatrooms, deciding which one he should pick.
"Hmmmm….I think I'll choose this one," he thought.
He clicked on his selection via the navigation bar, where it took him to a chatroom consisting of five other users. He was about to type his first message when he received a notification from one of the users.
Mystery_Man963: hi BionicFan123, what's up? are you new here?
BionicFan123: Yes, I am.
Mystery_Man963: welcome to the chatroom! What's your name?
BionicFan123: Arthur Read
Mystery_Man963: my name's chris. I assume you love bionic bunny, right?
BionicFan123: Yes, that's why I made this name.
Mystery_Man963: Me too! I think we have a lot in common. How old are you?
BionicFan123: I'm 10
Mystery_Man963: me too! We should meet up sometime. Where do you go to school? Where do you live?
Arthur was doubting whether he should be giving his personal information. He knew his parents told him not to talk to any strangers nor give away his personal information to anyone he did not know, but Chris seemed like a nice person. "He's harmless," he thought, "And he seems nice. How bad can it be?"
BionicFan123: I live in Elwood City. I go to Lakewood Elementary School.
Mystery_Man963: Ahhhh…..I think I know that place. I go to school near yours too. But you probably don't know where it is.
BionicFan123: Really? Where?
Mystery_Man963: Mighty Mountain Elementary School
BionicFan123: Oh, come on! I know that school! Our school always plays against that school's teams, in dodgeball, football, basketball….
Mystery_Man963: Of course! I should know better lol…
BionicFan123: What does "lol" mean?
Mystery_Man963: It's an internet acronym. It basically just means "laughing out loud"
BionicFan123: I see lol
Mystery_Man963: Well, I'm just as curious as to what you look like. I think we'll make the best of friends. Unfortunately I accidentally deleted all my photos on my hard drive not long ago, so I can't send you a picture of myself.
BionicFan123: I'm sorry about that…..it must be awful…
Mystery_Man963: It's ok. My harddrive was flooding with too much stuff anyway. Anyways, can you send me a picture of yourself?
Arthur was once again doubting whether he should. But because this boy was 10 years old, just like himself, and went to school too, without hesitation he searched through his computer's hard drive where he found photographs of himself and his family. He selected a photograph of himself at the beach, smiling, and uploaded it to the conversation box.
BionicFan123: Here you go!
BionicFan123 has uploaded a photo.
Mystery_Man963: Very nice! You look happy in this photo!
BionicFan123: Thanks
Mystery_Man963: so, what do you say about meeting up?
BionicFan123: Sure, when and where?
Mystery_Man963: How about at the park at 5 this Friday? Oh, and if you do come, please don't tell anyone about our secret newfound friendship ;)
BionicFan123: Ok, got it! Whereabout?
Mystery_Man963: How about the woods? Somewhere where it's quiet…..
BionicFan123: Alright.
Mystery_Man963: Oh ummm, I have to go eat dinner. Mom is calling me. Can I get back to you later on Thursday? Can you give me your phone number?
Arthur was so excited that he instantly typed in all the details that were probably not the wisest to give away.
Mystery_Man963: Ok, got it. My dad will call your dad and we'll confirm that we're meeting up.
BionicFan123: Ok, bye!
Mystery_Man963: byebye
PRESENT:
"Do you actually know him in real life?" asked Buster.
"Uhhh….no. But as much as Mighty Mountain is annoying, he seems nice, how bad can it be?"
"Arthur, I don't feel alright with this. You can't just give away your information and meet someone you don't know. In fact, I don't know whether he's really 10 or from Mighty Mountain, since he did not send a photo of himself to you,"
"Relax Buster, I'll talk to you later, okay? I gotta go home,"
Arthur dashed back home.
He opened the door, only to be greeted by his parents, with a grave expression on their faces.
"Arthur," said his father, "Your mother and I have received a phone call this morning,"
"From who? I didn't do anything…." said Arthur, confused.
"Nothing?" said his mother in a firm voice, eyeing him. "Come to the living room, we want to talk to you,"
The three sat down at the living room couch.
"Now Arthur, the person who called us this afternoon before you came home was a man who said he was a father of a 10-year-old boy named "Chris". Do you actually know this guy?" asked his father.
"Yes," said Arthur, "I met him on the Internet,"
"But do you know him in real life?" asked his mother.
"No, but he is from Mighty Mountain,"
"Arthur, I know that you know better than to talk to strangers on the Internet," said his father. "Just like talking to strangers in real life is dangerous, it is equally as dangerous to do so on the Internet, especially in a chatroom, even if they cannot see or hear you,"
"That's right," said his mother, "And is it true that you gave away personal information, including our telephone numbers, address, our names, and the school you go to?"
"No…I mean…uhhh…yes…." Arthur admitted.
"Has he ever asked you to meet him in real life?" asked his mother.
"Yes," said Arthur, "We have to meet tomorrow at 5 in the park, in the forest part. He wants to keep our friendship a secret,"
"Arthur," said his father firmly, "Now listen to us. You must never, never, NEVER meet someone you met from the Internet in real life, even if they seem nice and friendly. Just like anyone in the real world could be pretending to be nice, online, it's twice as dangerous because you cannot see or hear them. There are some bad people who try to find you and do bad things to you. Some bad grownups pretend to be children and try to trick you,"
"Yes," said his mother, "However, we caught the story in time. And he asked you to keep your friendship secret, eh? Well now I'm telling you this. Some bad grownups tell you to meet in areas that have few people, especially late at night where no one would be walking around, so they could try to kidnap you,"
Arthur gasped.
"Now, now," said his father, "Everything is going to be alright. We will change our phone numbers, and do everything to make sure we're safe. And tomorrow, we will all stick together as a family and go to the park ourselves to see what he really is like in real life,"
That was when they heard the doorbell ring.
They opened the door, to be greeted by a middle-aged man.
"Hello….who are you?"
"Is this Arthur's house?" he asked.
"No," said Mrs. Read, "You got the wrong house. Please leave,"
At that point, the man tried to barge through the door, but Mr. Read caught him just in time.
"Jane, honey," he called back, "Call the police!"
5 MINUTES LATER:
The police handcuffed the man and took him away to the police car.
"I'm so sorry about this," said the policeman.
"It's alright," said Mr. Read.
"Now Arthur," said Mrs. Read, "Do you see why that was a dangerous thing to do? That man was not a 10 year old at all! You could have gotten hurt! If we hadn't caught the story in time, you wouldn't even have been able to come back home!"
"Yes," said Mr. Read, "From now on, we are blocking Express Messenger, and you will only be allowed to use the Internet for learning purposes, or a maximum of 20 minutes of game time,"
"We're forbidding you to use the Internet for a week. Fair?" asked his mother.
"Yes Mom and Dad," said Arthur, although he admitted that he was relieved that his parents saved him, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done something like this,"
"It's okay," said his father, "Well it's great that you're safe now,"
"Now Arthur," said his mother, "I think that for once we should all do something family friendly altogether for once,"
"Yes," said his father, "How about Once Upon a Restaurant tonight? That way we will all feel safe and comfy as a family. Who's in?"
"Count me in!" enthused Arthur.
"And me!" said DW.