Loneliness vs being alone
This is an imaginary conversation inside the head of the protagonist with a person he believes to be his friend. “You sound alone.” “I’m not alone. I have family and some friends. Nope, not alone. Maybe, um…lonely.” “What are you doing about it?” “Nothing at all. I try to paint my face with a fake smile and put a peppiness in my voice, making others and myself believe that I’m fine. But today when I was staring at the mirror, the person staring back was not me. Empty might justify. He had lost what he always cherished—company.” “What happened?” “I don’t know…it happened too fast, yet too slow. I can’t put it in words. I was happy and blessed. I used to enjoy stuff, drinking coffee, reading everything under the sun, listening to music, talking to people. Eventually, every one of those things stopped. I started to change, staying alone deliberately. There was just one person I needed to be with, but that seemed almost impossible. I started liking it and hating it with the same intensity