Earlier today I saw someone drop in whom I hadn't seen in months. He was wearing the same sort of short, squat body, but a different head completely. He wasn't speaking, so I didn't know it was him. The overall silhouette tugged at my memory, and when he made with a sarcastic quip, I saw that it was him after all.

It's funny how, in the accelerated world of SL, we can develop friendships and enmities in such a short span of time. It only takes a week of seeing the same people everyday to cement their personas in your mind. I realized that I'd missed seeing Postmark Jensen around, with his lately gorilla-esque avatar, loping along and being generally hilariously irascible. I actually went around saying "Hey, Post is back!" to everyone, who'd apparently already seen him, so I was just being Excitable Akela, overloaded with exclamation points.

But I was genuinely excited to see him back. Rumors of his death being greatly exaggerated, etc. Earlier today the same thing happened. Cerealistic Noland, absent for months because of a laptop accident, was right there in the Shelter, dancing away with Jacek Antonelli, as though she'd never been away. I was overjoyed to see her, and spent the rest of my time in-world talking with her in IM.

These people that we share this world with aren't just people to me anymore; they're representations of moments. Times past when I spent a half hour bantering and laughing. Having serious conversations on mortality and identity. Enjoying the sweet camaraderie of shared experience. That's what keeps me coming back to SL. I miss the moments. I miss the people.