Isolation - #writing

He sat alone. Everyone else sat alone. The gulf between each of them had grown by six feet over the past year. He spoke through a fiber face-covering. She listened, her smile–or grimace likewise covered. Talking to people had always been difficult for him, but the mask meant to protect was a physical wall. 

Those who had lived together were torn apart. Everyone learned to function in a world of isolation, motivated by the fear of death–their own or of those they loved. Strangers wanting to connect were kept at a distance. Those who relished being alone probably breathed a sigh of relief that the pandemic had given them an excuse–he did not.

He sat alone, but understood that no one is truly isolated. People are still around, alive, and eager to grow closer, physically, emotionally, and psychically. Life is never alone.

©2021