Before I Saw You

by Emily Houghton

When Alfie looked over at Mr. Peterson’s cubicle at the end of the day, he was stunned. There was no evidence that the man had existed at all. Everything had returned to its original sterile state. How quickly every trace of a person could disappear, wiped away and collected up to be replaced with fresh bedsheets and a brand-new resident. Before his own accident, Alfie could never really understand why people got so worried about forgetting their loved ones when they passed. Surely you could never erase those memories or moments from your mind? How could you ever forget a person who had meant so much to you? But you could. And you did. One of the hardest lessons he’d had to learn was that time didn’t stop for anyone. If you didn’t go with it, there was a risk people would move on without you too. But to take that first step felt so much like betrayal, it rooted you to the spot. Watching the ward prepare for a new body to move into Mr. Peterson’s space was another stark reminder of how quickly the world carried on without you.