Eoin. A while back someone predicted that I was going to be lonely. He read my palm and told me a couple of things about me, but then he said that I was going to be lonely.
Magy. Are you lonely now?
Eoin. I guess so, but I wasn't sure if he meant that I was going to be lonely for the rest of my life or there will be a great moment of loneliness that I will experience.
Magy. Where is this person? Maybe you can go back and ask him.
Eoin. I can't. He's in India.
Magy. Were you lonely in India?
Eoin. I guess I was. And that's the thing. Was he just talking about my time in India, or was the prediction stretching my life's span?
Magy. Did you have a great moment of loneliness in India?
Eoin. I don't know how great it was. I wasn't lead to talking to strangers or anything. I think I went thought a sort of celebrity loneliness.
Magy. What is that?
Eoin. It's like this: One time I traveled alone to a hill station in India to escape the heat, and on the way there, our bus pulled into a bus station to refuel. We had about twenty minutes to stretch out. I think I bought a chai. There were a lot of travelers that day - mostly men for some reason. So there I was at a bus station sitting at a bench sipping on chai. There was this little girl who was staring at me, then she finally came up to me and asked for my name. When I told her, she went straight to a policeman and started to point at me.
Magy. Did you do something?
Eoin. The policeman approached me and asked me for my passport. I was a little confused, so I asked him what it was all about. He showed me a poster in his hand with a photo of someone who looked like me who was wanted for something I didn't do.
Magy. Did he understand that it wasn't you?
Eoin. Eventually, but while I was explaining who I was and was not, it seemed like most of the men in the station surrounded us trying to find out what was going on.
Magy. So you were the celebrity.
Eoin. I was lonely traveling like that.
Magy. Did they ever catch the guy?
Eoin. I don't know. I was hoping to meet the guy at the hill station. I could have told him to avoid the station.
Magy. You know, I think I experienced a great moment of loneliness when I returned to college. I came back in the middle of the school year and all the friends I made when I first went were gone. I just had no friends. I didn't want to bother with joining clubs and going to parties by myself so all I did was study in the library, listen to music in my room, and rent movies. I guess I could have asked a guy to help me with studying or something stupid like that, but I didn't. I was so paranoid about my loneliness. It probably wasn’t true, but I could feel the campus could see that had no friends. I must have seemed pathetic. The worst moment was when the Campus Theater decided to screen The Graduate. I had to see it, but going to a theater by yourself has to be the worst. I arrived fifteen minutes too early, and I sat there waiting through every grinding second for the lights to go out and Simon and Garfunkle to take me out of there. I will never go to a theater alone.
Eoin. You're okay now, aren't you?
Magy. Sure. I'm fine now. But what about you? Are you lonely?
Eoin. I guess I am, but I wouldn’t call it a great loneliness, so I'm not too worried. It just reminded me of the time that man predicted that I was going to be lonely.
Magy. Are you depressed? You sound depressed.
Eoin. It's been a while, but I think I am.
End. Great Moment of Loneliness