Five Phases of Evanescence

  1. When K—— didn't show up for class one day we visited after school to (jokingly) heckle them, and knocked on their door, tapped the windows. Not even K——'s  homebody grandmother answered, although we could see lights on through the shaded windows.
  2. None of the teachers called K——'s name. Some of us went to the principal to ask if something had happened, and he just sort of shrugged, confused.
  3. Their locker disappeared the next day; 5237 and 5239 now reside next to each other.
  4. K——'s house disappeared; in its stead was a worn-out playground with children on it and parents who, when we asked, said that they'd taken their children there for years.
  5. We forgot...someone, possibly a friend. We're not sure of their gender but we think their name started with a K. But time moved on, and we avoided tonguing the canker sore of absence until that too disappeared.