You are not alone

My weather app, Dark Sky, said it was 41 degrees outside but only felt like 35 when I was heading out for my predawn run in Central Park, so I stuffed my black knit gloves and a hat into my pockets in case I got cold. I entered the park on West 96th street, headed south to Columbus Circle, and while coming back north, I was listening to the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack. When one of the show’s better songs, You Will Be Found, began to play, I sang along in sotto voce:

Have you ever felt like nobody was there?
Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere?
Have you ever felt like you could disappear?
Like you could fall, and no one would hear?

And oh, someone will coming running
And I know, they'll take you home

Even when the dark comes crashing through
When you need a friend to carry you
And when you're broken on the ground
You will be found

So let the sun come streaming in
'Cause you'll reach up and you'll rise again
Lift your head and look around
You will be found
You will be found

At the same time, I got a bit of a chill, so while singing, I put on my hat and was putting on my gloves when a woman who was running only a few feet in front of me whipped around with a horrified look on her face and took off like a dart out of the park. I was utterly perplexed as to what caused her obvious fear, until I realized that, from her perspective, she saw some guy pulling on gloves while whispering to her in the predawn darkness “Have you ever felt like nobody was there? Have you ever felt forgotten in the middle of nowhere? Have you ever felt like you could disappear? Like you could fall, and no one would hear?” and “when you are broken on the ground, you will be found.” This poor lady, here I was running along and, as I am want to do, signing show tunes and inadvertently threatening to kill her — I’d get the hell out of there too!!

tocsin (noun)

1: an alarm bell or the ringing of it

2: a warning signal