model for this little fiction: J.J. — photo by AleXander Hirka

Absence

A Heart Gone Yonder

I was frantic. I felt dizzy, disoriented. I stumbled around the living room trying to judge how concerned I should be with my state of mind and body.
I approached the turntable thinking I’d put on a record but my equilibrium was way off.
I’m not a hypochondriac — I don’t imagine illnesses. But I am an alarmist — and as soon as I have any symptoms I think the worst.
Was this some hybrid form of COVID that was…