Nothing

I watched in horror as the smoke billowed high. I followed the plume to the leaping flames high above the roof. Flames and smoke poured from every window, every door. I fell to my knees.

The flames were put out, the firemen left, the sooty timbers were surrounded by yellow caution tape. Still I sat.

There were no tears. They had dried as the smoulder cooled and the ash settled. As the evening set in and stars blinked innocently above. A chill sent me inside my car.

I woke with a steering wheel imprint in my cheek. Someone was knocking on the window.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You need to eat. Come in."

I don't remember what I ate, but I swallowed something.

"Where are you going today?"

"I don't know." Ignoring my neighbor's calls, I climbed back into my car. It was my shell. I was a shell. I was lost. There was nothing inside me, nothing for me, nowhere to go.

Adrift. I drove aimlessly. Were it not for the low gas alert, I might not have stopped. The tank refilled, but I was empty.