Short Short: "I'm Poofing Away" #AmanoWritingClub
"I'm poofing away." With those words, you vanished.
The morning light streaming through the gap in the curtains illuminates the photo frame on the table. The cardigan you always wore is draped carelessly over the back of the sofa, and I get the illusion that your body heat still lingers on the cushions.
In the bathroom, two toothbrushes remain side by side. The hair dryer cord is half-wound, keeping time frozen just like that. When I open the refrigerator, the yogurt you liked and the soy milk nearing its expiration date make their presence quietly known.
The closet is packed tight with clothes. The faint scent of your perfume brushes past my nose the moment I open the door, and I instinctively close my eyes. On the bedside table lies the novel you were reading. The receipt used as a bookmark holds the memories and records of our shopping trip.
You vanished without telling me why, without telling me where you were going. Yet, everywhere I look, your presence is ingrained, and the entire room loudly proclaims your absence. It is as if only the shape of our life remains, like a shell from which the soul has slipped away.
"Where did you go... taking all my life savings..."
Three more months have passed since then...
I consulted the police. I hired a private investigator. But your traces were as impossible to grasp as smoke; it seems your name, your address, everything was a lie. Your social media accounts were deleted, your phone service was canceled, and we had no mutual acquaintances. As if you never existed in the first place, you "poofed" out of my world.
I disposed of the remnants of our former life one by one. And I gave up on searching for you... I gave up, but I catch myself unconsciously looking for your figure on street corners, and I can't help but laugh.
"A fool never learns, do they..."
I muttered that, but I felt somewhat clear-headed. The fact that I loved you still weighed a little more than the fact that I was deceived. I decided to think of it that way...
The End
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Afterword
I participated in Mitsuru Amano's project "Amano Writing Club" with the prompt "I'm vanishing."
#AmanoWritingClub
#ImVanishing
#ShortShortStory
#Fraud
#Disappearance