What does it mean to be alone? Looking at the word structure , Mari traces out imaginary boundaries on the diary page where the word written "alone" now is split into "a" "l" and "one".

This is the only thing written on the page, she cannot write anymore as she ponders how she can write the definition.

She is sitting alone herself, against the school building wall, lost in the thought of what it really means to be alone, while her classmates are outside playing at recess. The universe itself is made of many celestial bodies, and our body is built on symbiotic bacteria, cells, and organs, but when you condense everything into any one catergory everything can be "one" or alone. Everything is contained in one infinite holding space. Every. Thing. What is some, what is one, and what is many?

Mari is stuck between complex thought and just accepting the way things are supposed to be, simple minded and fun for a fourth grader, until her parents start worrying about boys and she learns about politics, paying her taxes, and not knowing whether her feelings are justified or not.

Until then, Mari should enjoy her elementary school years. But her self-exclusion from the rest of her peers will soon set her on a mentally exhausting journey of identity, and whether or not "friends" are worthwhile.