How We Disappear by Alexa Pukall

JJ didn’t make friends easily. She’d been a shy toddler, second grader, teenager. In college, there were two friends. Sheila moved away to be ‘an artist.’ She barely made any money but sent pictures of crowds of people, saying, wish you were here.

Mary and her baby had mom-friends now.

JJ worked. She ate lunch alone, like in middle school. This is how you disappear, she thought. Not surprisingly. Not tragically. Just because no one notices you leave.

“Hey!” Someone nudged her—the new hire. “Do you mind? I don’t know anyone yet.”

Uncertainly, JJ looked down at her food.

© Copyright 2016 Alexa Pukall. All rights reserved.
• • • • •
Alexa Pukall studied Creative Writing at Chapman University. She lives and writes in Frankfurt, Germany.