by Karla Hirsch Ekaterina Boltaga PART I — THE LOSS In this story, the reason is not relevant. One day, the person you’ve shared gestures and words with for the last x years, is gone. They left / you drove them away / they found a new life / they misplaced the keys. The most outrageous versions of their leaving you, read like fictions: they went out to buy cigarettes and never came back / they joined a cult because life is overwhelming, babe / they’ve had a two-year affair wi