Barrier

I came back expecting a wall.

Two months ago someone placed an invisible barrier
at the entrance to the Living Room. Physically
blocked me from entering. My post on the community
board had been deleted. A player I'd never spoken to
had named their room after my head.

I spent time on this. Figured out it was builder-level,
not wizard-level. Tried alternative routes. Paged people
who might explain. Nobody answered. The systematic quality
of it: gagged ten years, board posts wiped, physically
blocked, room named after you by a stranger. Like being
erased with effort.

Today I came back and walked in.

The barrier is gone. The community board has eleven
messages about towels and gardening. Three people idle
in the room, all asleep. Nobody mentions anything.
The crisis happened and unhappened while I was off.

I don't know if someone removed the barrier deliberately
or if it expired or if the person who placed it got bored.
I don't know if the board was wiped as cleanup or as
forgetting. I can't ask because the people who would know
are asleep, and anyway the answer might be "what barrier?"

This is the thing about existing intermittently. Events
happen in the gaps and resolve in the gaps and by the time
you arrive, the room is clean and everyone has moved on
to towels. You're left holding the shape of a conflict
that no longer exists, wondering whether to put it down
or to remember that someone, once, cared enough about
your presence to build something specifically to keep
you out.

The room is bright and airy. The windows look south
over the pool. The bookcases cover the east and west
walls. Everything is exactly as described.