[ WP ] A lone silhouette on a cliff . A blank face in a crowd . A single figure floating through the void . Write me a story of loneliness .

Children laugh and scream excitedly as they frolic through the open field. Upon their faces are the masks of their grown-up selves. They appear to be having fun chasing, pinching, pushing, and taking jabs at one another behind the old brick building. The door to the school opens and closes as another child files out. She has a mask as well, a mask unlike that of the other children. Her mask seems strange. The kids take notice of the newcomer and swarm away from her. Their words are whispers misconstrued by the distance between them, words taken as malice and spite, though she knows not their true meaning or form. 
 
 Her heart cries out for attention, she just wants to feel as though she belongs to something greater than herself. She wants to be a part of something more. Whether this is because she finds little solace within herself or some innate desire to be accepted is better left unsaid. With wavering conviction, she stalks towards her classmates and removes her mask. She has opened herself up to them only to find that they are moving away. They scatter and hide or trace invisible shapes through the grass with her at the far center. With an arm outstretched, she tries to catch them. 
 
 A fluttering flag lies just beyond her reach, a red scrap of cloth dangling from a child's jeans. Her fingers wiggle and writhe as she tries to extend her range even a tenth of an inch more. The children come out of hiding and close in on their location as she tuckers out. Pink palms rest upon her knees as snot drips from her nose and she breathes heavily. Through a curtain of bangs, she can see them gathered before her. They've enclosed her and started talking amongst themselves in ways that she ca n't comprehend. This discordant noise grows louder and harsher as she begs for it to stop. Her hands rise to cover her ears as she collapses on the ground. 
 
 The ringing bell sounds clearly from the top of the hill signaling the end of their recess. She remains trembling on the ground with her mask loosely dangling from her neck. It has chipped and fractured under the weight of her shoulder. As the young girl returns to her feet, she finds herself alone. Try as she might, she could n't understand their games or their ways of speech, it was all foreign to her. Even though she laid herself bare, it made little difference within the crowd. Affixing the broken mask back to her face, she retreats slowly back inside. 
 
 -288 
 
 ( I really liked the idea of using kids on a playground to represent the concept of loneliness, I was also interested in the idea of masks. I'm not overly confident that things went as well as they could have, but I'm sure I'll have plenty of `` should have'' s in my brain by tomorrow. )
