Alone

Richard was alone, not truly alone, he had friends, and he had his family, and he had Gina, his loving girlfriend. But he could never quite shake the feeling that he was alone.
For as long as he could remember, everything seemed just a bit too distant to be real. Not all the time, mind you, but only when Richard really focused on it. Yes, Richard told himself, he was quite alone indeed.

Perhaps he would leave.

Yes.

Yes, he was going to leave and find somewhere that he would not feel alone. He had finally made up his mind, he would leave behind everybody that he knew. This would certainly stop him from being so hopelessly alone.

Perhaps he would wait until tomorrow to leave, it was supposed to rain today. His mother would need help bringing in the groceries, and he didn't want her to do it herself in the rain.

So Richard made up his mind, he would leave tomorrow. If the weather was right he would leave tomorrow and find somewhere that he would not feel alone. But Gina had planned a lovely date for them tomorrow. He couldn't leave tomorrow, he couldn't do that to Gina, not after all the effort she had put into planning their date.

He would leave then, Richard decided, the day after tomorrow. It would be a Friday, which just seemed well suited to leaving.

Yes.

If the weather was right the day after tomorrow he would leave then. Oh but the day after tomorrow was Phil's birthday party, he simply couldn't miss Phil's birthday party. They had been best friends for years, and how would that reflect on Richard, missing his best friend's birthday party?

After Phil's birthday party he would leave, he would go find somewhere he belonged and he would stop feeling so alone. But he wouldn't do it before the party, all of their friends were going and he couldn't miss that.

And so on that cold September afternoon Richard finally made up his mind, he would leave in three days. He would leave the day after Phil's birthday, two days after his date with Gina, and find a place he didn't feel so alone.

So long as the weather was suited for it.