alone-ness..................

 Now that my alone-ness was coming to an end, I could enjoy the solitude and the isolation.  I had Antarctica to myself and I liked it that way.  I let my mind explore the prospect of seeing other people, of being back at Union Glacier surrounded by company, and I became aware of my instincts shying away from the idea.

     I had to laugh out loud at my own caprice, shaking my head in exasperation.  I had struggled with alone-ness for all this time and now here I was sentimentalising it.

-Felicity Aston, Alone In Antarctica