How to Be Alone

First, tell him it’s over. Tell your friends you’re satisfied. Take
yourself to movies. Read books in bed. When eating, hide the sound of
your chewing with talk radio. For momentum, ride the subway. Spend
time with a man who doesn’t look at you that way. When the thought of
him threatens to turn you into a shiny penny, resist. Live as the
addicts do, one day at a time. Give yourself something to anticipate:
take up smoking. Commit. Alone is not lonely. Alone is you asleep.
Lonely is you at the hands of a mugger, the victim of someone else’s
need.

Maureen Traverse earned her MFA in Creative Writing from Ohio State University where she grew stories long and wild.  She has since moved to New York City and trimmed her stories down to fit inside her apartment.  Her work has appeared online in Dogzplot and McSweeney’s.