Today, I had that dream again. I was with my friends on a warm, southern afternoon, wandering through shops and parks, wasting time in trivial conversations. At one point, we passed a group of girls our age and one of them stared at me blankly with a childish expression. My friends laughed, and I blushed slightly. We kept walking, laughing at every funny situation or strange person we encountered. All the people I once called my best friends were there. Suddenly, I heard a loud noise and snapped back to reality. It was my cat meowing to be let in. I sat on my bed for a few minutes, mulling things over, and felt a heavy weight on my chest. My eyes started to water. Now, at 25, with alopecia, no job, and no future goals, I feel like the biggest failure of all. I feel like I'm the only one of my friends who has stagnated. They all have girlfriends, jobs, and promising futures. Why is it just me? I ask myself, but I know the answer very well. I would give anything to go back and have fun with them like we used to, but they're not the same people anymore. They don't feel the same loneliness I do
