I spend so much time alone now that I’m getting used to my own company again. With my girlfriend living in Dallas, I spend most of my time at home scraping around in my burrow like the rats of Nimh, or Bilbo Baggins. Remember that kid who used to sit alone in his room with his sci-fi novels and dusty juvenilia? I am still that kid, only now I am heavier and hair sprouts from my face like rust.
Spending time alone has its down side. Sometimes I am the inhabitant of some cozy desert island mapping out my circumscribed existence in ragged breeches and a hat made out of a coconut husk. Only when I see others do I realize how long I’ve been marooned. Otherwise I just go about my business, folding clothes, reading library books, and drinking black tea with the sugar packets I nicked from Exxon.
I like the idea of the coconut hat.
I’m over here at this other island not far off and we have boats.