What have you told us at all?

...And us, too, are we not lonely?

No - wait, what do you mean? We have each other.

You said, you said that all you read is loneliness. People send in their thoughts - their stories, their poetry, their art - everyday to you. And, and you said that all you read from it, the only common theme among all of their pieces is a single emotion: loneliness. It's like, babe, it's like the whole world is here to spill their thoughts to a person like you. And, I mean, I just don't get it.

You don't get it? What is there to get? They are sad. They look for some sort of release, and I just give them that.

But, no, I mean... does it matter if they are sad? They could be living with strangers in an alley or... or well-going in their Fifth Avenue apartment; some people are sad in either situation. What I'm saying is that they all look to you. They've created you into something, like, like an all-knowing god, or a an ancient hero, you know? They've made you into this being - this creature that can listen to their thoughts and sum up some kind of response. All you do - and I've heard you say it - is just respond in some general manner, something that a lot of people can relate to. But that's all they need! That's all they want. You see, what I'm saying is that, they look at you - some god, some hero - like you know what the answer is. Some cure, some miracle cure that gets them out of that funk they are going through.

Yeah, yeah I know. A lot of the time I'm just writing from a specific personal experience I've gone through. It doesn't matter what I say. They just want to know they've been heard.

Exactly. But, the point I'm making, babe, is that they don't see you as who you are. Just the image they've created of you. They don't see the real you, the reader, the girl I know. You're just one of them - I'm just one of them! We're lonely, babe, we're real lonely. So I'm saying, when it comes down to it, they need you - the you they've created. I understand that. But why is it you? You aren't a god, as far as I know, and you aren't some mystical hero. You've got problems just like they do. So, what I'm really saying is, who do you talk to? Who do you go to, babe, when you're lonely? Because it's clear to us both that what helps them isn't what's inside you.

Well, every once in a while I write in anonymously. So I guess I talk to myself. I talk to you, I talk to them, all of them. It's just, it's just one big thought.

By Calvin