evanescent
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When Josh woke up, he felt different somehow. Lighter, like there was less of him. He checked himself in the mirror, but there was nothing wrong that he could see. He made a mental note to call the doctor after work.
As he went through his morning routine, that feeling of something missing seemed to grow. It was a slow process. So slow it took him until he left his apartment to really take notice of the growing feeling of lightness. But it did not seem to have much effect on him, so he brushed it aside, figuring the doctor would know more.
It was not until he got to the office that he really noticed what was happening to him. Everyone seemed to have one of two reactions to him: They either seemed to notice him much later than normal, or they would be momentarily confused, like they had to think about who he was for a moment.
When he got to his little slice of the office, he sat paused by the cubicle next to his to ask the occupant if there was something weird going on. Josh had know the man, Greg, since before they had started working at this company, and was often the only reason the job was even slightly tolerable.
“Hey, Greg, you getting any weird looks lately?” Josh asked.
Greg looked up in surprise and looked at Josh quizzically for a moment. Josh knew what that look was. It was the look of someone trying to remember who another person was.
“Hey…buddy…” Greg said. “Uh, no, I don’t think anyone’s been treating me differently. Why?”
“No reason, I’ve just been getting weird looks lately. Hey, we still on for the game tonight?”
“Game? Uh, I don’t know…”
“Come on, you’ve been telling me about it all week. How this would be the big one, and the one to make the entire season.”
“I mean, yeah, there is a pretty important game tonight, but I don’t remember talking to anyone about it.”
“Seriously?” Josh thought about what was going on. Could people really be forgetting him? “Hey, Greg, what’s my name?”
Greg opened his mouth and closed it. He thought long and hard about that question. “Sorry, but I don’t know. Didn’t we just meet? Hey, how do you know my name, anyway?”
“You’ve got to be kidding. It’s me, Josh. We’ve been friends since college? Remember, you used to date my sister.”
“I did? No, that can’t be right. None of the girls I dated in college had a brother that looks like you. I definitely would’ve remembered that.” He looked Josh up and down. “Hey, you feeling alright? You look kinda…off.”
“Well, I mean, one of my best friends says he doesn’t remember me, so there’s that.”
“No, no, that’s not it. I mean, you look, I don’t know, pale? And I swear I can see the wall through you. Well, kind of anyway.”
Josh looked at his hand and his eyes grew wide. He could indeed just barely make out the outline of the floor through his hands. Was this because of the odd feeling of lightness that he had been feeling? He rushed into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. Whatever was happening to him was speeding up.
He was getting less and less visible. Vanishing a little more every second. He scrambled and pulled out his phone. He typed out a message, hoping it would help someone remember he existed. It was all he had left.
A few minutes later, an employee entered the room, and quickly saw a phone laying on the floor. It was recently used, and a single line of text was displayed, although what it meant, the man had no idea. It read:
I am Joshua Henry Adams, and I existed.
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Probably the worst thing that can happen to someone. To simply stop existing. I mean, even death is in some ways better, because someone will remember you. But to simply not be there and nobody remembers you? That's much worse.
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