Gone Without a Trace

Last night, while cleaning the kitchen after dinner, I thought about what my life would be like if I had never met you.

It is strange how much space you once occupied, considering how little remains. Had we never met, almost nothing would be different. I would have eaten the same dinner, cleaned the same kitchen, used the same soap in the same bathroom, watched the same movie, and gone to sleep in the same bed beside the same man.

Did knowing you change me at all? The conversations, the intimacy—where did they go? And you—are you any different? Would your life look the same if I had never existed in it? I assume it would.

The only real difference is the time I lost believing otherwise.

Did you lose anything?

I’ll never know. I’m awake, my sheets just as fresh as if we had never met.