The Singles' Side

I hear them whispering "Come over to the Singles' Side...come over."
I try to ignore them, but again they say "Come over to the Singles' Side...come over."
Again I brush them off with grave disinterest.
More insistent they say again "Come over to the Singles' Side...come over."
I look all around to see if anyone can see me. No one can.
I look around again just to be sure. I am sure.
Ever hesitantly I walk over to the Singles' Side, leaving my boyfriend behind.
They celebrated when I came into their presence.
I am curious as to their motives for my wanting to join them.
I question them: "Why do you want me to join your side?"
They reply, in unison, "Look at the freedom we have...Look."
I looked at them dancing wildly about. I thought, "If this is what they call freedom, I guess they have it."
I turn to them and say, "Yes, I suppose you do have freedom, but are you singles [happy]?" I emphasize.

A woman stepped forward; I assumed her to be the leader of the Singles' Side.
"Listen," she started, "We've [all] been hurt by someone we loved. We just don't want that to happen again. We don't want to get hurt again...so, we joined the Singles' Side. We support and love each other." She stepped back into the group and seemingly disappeared.
Before I could speak in reply to her statement, a gentleman stepped out of the group.

He seemed to be full of nervousness and very unsure of himself. He cleared his throat before he spake.
"W-Well," he stuttered, "Some of us have been hurt while in a relationship," he gestured towards some others in the crowd. He continued: "...but, others of us have never been in a relationship." He pointed to himself. "People like me have known rejection all of our lives...and that's [all] we know." He stepped back into the crowd.
I gathered my scattered thoughts and began to speak, until another woman stepped out of the crowd and cut me off.

"Now, I know what you're going to say. You're gonna say 'Well, I'm sorry that you all have been hurt but I'm happy; so we can both go our separate ways and live however we want.'....We don't want you to pity us or feel sorry for us though. In fact, it's quite the opposite. We feel sorry for [you]."
She still stood our from the crowd and waited for my response.

"Well, wow! I'm not quite sure how you knew I was going to say that, but I totally understand where you are coming from. Although, I'm a little unsure of why you feel sorry for [me]..."

"We are here to [warn] you. You [will] be hurt sooner or later. We are trying to save you from that happening. We all know what it feels like to be hurt and it sucks. We don't want anymore people to experience that type of hurt. We are [saving] you."
She stepped back into the crowd and in unison they chanted "Come over to the Singles' Side...come over....Come over to the Singles' Side...come over.....Come over to the Singles' Side...come over.....Come over to the Singles' Side....come over...."
Their voices faded.

"I understand you all want the best for everybody but I am really quite happy and my boyfriend is too...we are [all] going to get hurt by people whether we are single or in a relationship...it's how you react to being hurt. Whether you get angry and bitter or whether you make your relationship stronger as a result of it. I'm really truly sorry you all have been hurt but you guys need to just get over it. Move on! Forgive and forget. I mean, after all, who really loves the single life???"

The crowd mumbled but no one dared step forward to say anything.

"It was nice talking to you but I really must go back to the other side now....I have a date with my boyfriend." I smiled and walked away.

I heard their mumblings as I walked away. In unison, I heard them start to mechanically chant those words again: "Come over to the Singles' Side....come over.......Come over to the Singles' Side....come over......Come over to the Singles' Side....come over.......Come over to the Singles' Side....come over....Come over to the Singles' Side....come over........"