I don’t need to invent a character who is leaving behind something they love. Why make it up when the pain is already throbbing inside me?

December. Tickets. Huge cardboard boxes and trash bags. Stuff is gone. The apartment feels hollow. Not mine anymore. A strange mix of relief and emptiness. “But how can I leave my dog?”

Drones hum across the sky. Anxiety tightens its grip. I have to go. “But how can I leave her?”

No time to wait. Taking her with me is too risky. She wouldn’t make it. I forcefully shove the thought away, locking it deep inside like a painful secret. One day left. Everything is gone. Even the plants and flowers. The air is cold. Maybe not only the air.

I hand her over to my friend, forcing myself not to look back. Too painful. Cannot hold my tears anymore. Will every day feel like that from now on?

Just be happy. Even if you forget me, I will come back for you anyway.