I was walking into my apartment a couple of weeks ago when my neighbor was heading into his. He stopped on his way up the stairs, his dimunitive size emphasized by the fact that even on 3 stairs up he was still at my eye level. “Is it just you? Only one?” He said in broken english.
“Yes, it’s just me.” I replied and for some reason feeling exposed as if living alone was on par with having my fly open in a public place.
“Me too” he said, “Just one” and then he held up a tiny brown finger. He smiled at our shared commonality. We are worlds apart, but in that single phrase we are exactly the same. “Just One”
His face is old and tired looking. His clothes are drab and most likely purchased from a garage sale or Goodwill. As he trudged up the stairs I was slapped in the face by a sudden realization – that could be me in 20 years. I could be a single old man with other people coming by to visit to smoke cigarettes and trample around all hours of the night keeping the single young man that lives below me from sleeping at night.Â
An image burns in my head, an image forged from the fires of too much television and a vivid imagination. Me. Alone. Sitting in my white striped boxers on a tweed couch eating a frozen dinner and watching daytime soaps. The apartment is spartan with few furnishings and a large ashtray filled with cigarette butts. Time ticking away slowly as I watch the clock and wait for my next program to start. The numbers are worn off on the remote, but no worries, I have it memorized as it has become my best and most reliable companion. Bitterness has crept in over the years and in it’s cruelty has stripped me of everything that I ever held dear. Now I sit hoping for the Lord’s return or my eminent demise so I can be rid of this tired burden called Life.
Do you know, what I mean, when I say, I don’t want to be alone…
Do you know what I mean when I say, “I don’t want to be alone”?
What I mean when I say, “I don’t want to be alone”
What I mean when I say, “I don’t want to be alone”…
*Oh, and by the way, this postis just a creative exercise… don’t take it too seriously. I have no doubt that I will find someone and if I don’t then I can just order a bride from China. Also I don’t smoke and don’t plan on starting.
I don’t want to be alone either, exactly. None of us does. But there will come a time in your life when you take solitude with more pleasure than you currently do now. And when you finally DO get in a relationship, you’ll live for the quiet moments (especially after you get kids). Hang in there, hon!
Just one. I like that.
And you, Eddo, I have a hard time imagining EVER alone.
Oh, crap. Does that mean you’re making up excuses not to hang out with us? Always saying that you’re “busy”?
Sad, sad, sad. For us.
Russian girls are cuter.
I’m right there with ya. I just hope I don’t become some crazy cat lady.
“Sitting in my white striped boxers on a tweed couch eating a frozen dinner and watching daytime soaps. The apartment is spartan with few furnishings and a large ashtray filled with cigarette butts. Time ticking away slowly as I watch the clock and wait for my next program to start. The numbers are worn off on the remote, but no worries, I have it memorized as it has become my best and most reliable companion.”
Holy SanJAYA that sounds morbid.
I will pray that the Lord brings somebody into your life… otherwise, good luck with that.
Yikes!
lol! I was wondering if there was something you hadn’t told me. I was gonna scold you for smoking. just joking, I haven’t scolded you in a long time.
Your quote their at the end is from the song Work by Jars of Clay….let’s site our sources….btw, great song though, and band
Your quote their at the end is from the song Work by Jars of Clay….let’s site our sources….btw, great song though, and bandk