100 Seconds

I had been away a short while. A time during which, I believe, I disappeared. Sunshine replaced me yet a shadow remained. At night soft steps could still be heard. Yet I was gone. My friends noticed at first. Later they forgot my absence.

Over time, I reappeared: sightings were reported outside windows and in the dark corners of rooms during large gatherings. Some say they saw me stooped, stalking through a crowd; my eyes focused on my feet.

One friend claimed he heard me call out from high above, but that when he looked up there was a single cloud, blue skies and nothing else.

One day I will turn back and realise that, for all the time I was gone, it felt as though only 100 seconds had passed.