"Make a friend. I think you've made progress so you can now move onto human interactions."
My therapist peered through her oversized glasses, magnified further by my laptop screen.
I let a breath, then another one, then started panting and covered the laptop screen with my warm breath.
"N-no."
"Look you can’t go through life alone; you need some human interaction. What if you don't have to leave your house? What if the friend comes to you? Will that work for you?"
"What's the deal with friends? why can’t we go through life alone. I'm okay. I'm o-okay. I accepted long time back that I can't be normal. I've built a busy life with work, lots of TV and reading books."
The therapist gave a slight smile "I won't push you but maybe start seeing out your window, remove the curtains, it's like watching TV. Maybe you'll find someone interesting that sparks your notice."
I looked at the layers of heavy curtains protecting my worldview and shook my head. I did my usual rituals of watching some episodes of my favorite shows, reading a chapter of a book and went to sleep.
I was woken by my slumber by raucous laughter. My house is situated in a dead-end street and tucked away from sight. It was strange that the voice was coming from a proximity.
Without thinking I put the curtain aside a little. A man had a little girl on his shoulder, and they were trying to get something from the dense tree that shielded my driveway.
It was such a simple thing but the joy on their phases as they failed to retrieve whatever was stuck but continued trying with whoops of laughter, it tugged at my heart.
"Let's come back when it is light outside." The man said to the child.
The next morning, I peered at my window again, but nobody showed up the entire day.
Every day, I would peak to see if the duo were back, but they never did come back until later in the month.
I heard the same unfettered laughter again.
"Daddy there's a woman looking at us." The girl waved to me.
I immediately pulled back the curtains.
"Are you okay? I'm sorry if we are intruding." The father called out.
"It's okay." came out the hoarse whisper.
"I love this tree, it looks magical."
I stared at my heavy oak tree with its gnarly branches and furrowed my brows. Children were a mystery beyond adults.
"Ma'am, can I come here and play sometimes?" She smiled at me.
I pulled back the curtain the furthest it could go and managed to nod.