Gone

It’s like living in a Sci Fi movie, isn’t it?  One where people and things disappear.  Or like that book  not too long ago that talked about the second coming, where all the people who were truly going to heaven just disappeared one day, leaving the rest left behind.  (Left Behind)

It’s the empty office at work.  The empty chair.  The clean desk – no papers, no phone ringing, the blank stare of the computer.  Just gone.

The house down the block.  There’s no “For Sale” sign on the front, just weeds, lots of weeds in a yard that was once well kept.  Is that a sign on the garage window?  Maybe I could just walk down the driveway and take a look.  But before I get to the sign, it’s easy to tell the former occupants are gone.

However, weeds aren’t necessarily an  indicator of people being gone.  In Southern California, it’s water that’s gone.  No watering the lawn except on certain days, don’t clean your driveway with the hose, don’t take long showers.  Is someone watching to see how long I shower?  Scary.

How about restaurants gone?  I still like to eat out, and they still show their “Come In and Eat” signs, but their doors won’t open and a dark, dead space looms on the other side of the door where people once ate and chattered.

Furniture stores?  Car dealerships?  Road repairs.  School supplies.  Long lines at the soup kitchens.  Wondering if our social structure can feed so many, not to think of housing.

Just gone.  Every day or so I notice that something more is gone.  Where did it go?  Nowhere.  It’s just gone.

Here at home, I suspect my hubbie has something to do with it.  Today when I was getting the mail, I took a handful of junk mail intending to throw it into a garbage can waiting for pickup.  Wait a minute!  That’s my sunshine blocker for the car, and the almost empty bottle of Windex I keep out for the cars and keep filling with cheaper stuff.  On his way out to the street, he somehow was infected by throwing stuff away, and seems to have thrown away much of what I had stored in the garage.  Is he trying to tell me something?  Or is it just gone.  Gone, gone, gone.

Marilynne