The Party not in Pompeii

It was unexpected to go to the party, to be social, to meet new people.  Even the hostess was surprised by my appearance.  I am such a hermit sometimes, alone in my own Nautilus watching the vagueness of the waves outside my window.  I didn’t even mind the pompous guy from Pompeii; I even bantered back and forth with him.  And I thought for all his self-importance, bravado and solipsism, I wondered and I hoped that he too wakes up in the dark sometimes scared shitless.