When You Disappeared

by John Marrs

I followed him and watched as he placed them by the front door in exactly the same position as they’d sat for close to two years. He was startled when he saw me, then regained his composure and wandered off. I’d taken into account everyone’s feelings in the house except those of Simon’s faithful friend. So I didn’t try to move them again, until he left us too.

Sometimes I’d daydream about how it might feel to fall in love again, but there’d never been a face attached to the strapping hunk who swept me off my imaginary feet. Besides, falling in love scared me – it meant running the risk of once again losing someone. I was terrified of feeling that all over again.

Then I wrapped him in a blanket and carried him to the bottom of the garden, where Robbie had dug a hole under the crab-apple tree as deep as his arms could stretch. We gently placed Oscar into the ground and lay Simon’s running shoes by his side, before heaping soil and tears on his final resting place.