Solo

This story is narrated by Solo, who sets off to the park, hoping so she tells readers en route, that it won’t be too busy. When she arrives though, she finds that it’s full of children dashing hither and thither and making a fair bit of noise. Solo stands apart from the hubbub and starts playing with her her ball, but it soon bounces off and is picked up by someone introducing himself as Jesse. Jesse invites Solo to join him and his friends in their play and for a while she has a fun time but then she feels as though she needs some , let’s say, Solo time and off she goes to spend a while by herself. Soon she feels better but her being alone once more concerns Jesse. However, Solo explains that rather than a problem, she likes to enjoy quiet things on her own sometimes. One becomes two as Solo and Jesse play Solo’s kind of games together; he enjoys these activities and understands her need, calling it “a little time and space to power up”. When she’s done so, Solo is ready and willing to spend some more time in the ’whizzy part of the park’, so off they go.

Neil Clark shows that both the whizzy world and Solo’s quieter one have much to offer, the latter leaving space for the imagination to flourish. Embedded quietly in his story is the message that being alone and being lonely are not the same at all. I’m sure that almost all of us need the former from time to time, some more than others; we can be introvert sometimes and extrovert sometimes.