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She vanished, just as the year ended. I heard many people talking about her, but I didn’t know who she was. No matter how many people I asked, no one would answer. Were they trying to protect me from something? Was it a relative, a friend, or simply someone who I’d once met? Why was I being denied the knowledge? I was so confused.&nbsp; On Monday, I went to the market. As I picked up a gallon of milk, two women came around the corner of the aisle. “Did you hear?” one of them said. “What a bizarre situation! One second she was there, and the next, she was gone!” “How can that happen to someone?” “I wish I knew!” I turned around to look at them. “Who?” I asked. “Who disappeared?” Both women looked at me, and their faces changed. “No one,” they both said, before turning around and quickly walking away. Shocked, I just stared at them as they left. Why did they do that?&nbsp; It happened again that afternoon when I stopped for fuel on the way home. As a nice young man filled my car with gasoline, I went inside the convenience store to buy a lottery ticket. “Why her?” I heard a male voice say as I opened the door. “She was a nice lady.” “I know,” an elderly woman answered. “It’s such a shame.” “Who was it?” I quickly asked.&nbsp; Both of them looked at me, and the woman swiftly walked around me and went out the door. “Who?” I asked the shop attendant. “Who’s the lady?” Before he could answer, a mechanic came inside and said, “Hey Jim, Come’re.” Without another word, Jim quickly followed the mechanic outside. “But…my lottery ticket,” I mumbled to myself. That evening, I turned on the news, but they didn’t mention her. I watched every single newscast, but not one of them ran a story on the missing woman. Since it had been a few days since she’d vanished, I guess they had no new information yet. I suppose they’d aired the story on January 1st. I wish I hadn’t missed it.&nbsp; I had a hard time falling asleep that night, as I tried to make sense of the situation. I listed the facts in my mind, hoping that something would click.&nbsp; Fact#1: A woman had vanished on December 31, 1995.Fact#2: ?Fact#3: ?Fact#4: ?Fact#5: ? It didn’t take very long to realize that I only knew that one fact. But why was everyone hiding her identity from me? It didn’t make sense! I found it ironic that my name was ‘Patience’, because it certainly wasn’t serving me as a virtue at the moment! Confusion#1: No one will tell me who it was.Confusion#2: Why won’t anyone tell me?Confusion#3: What had I done to make everyone avoid telling me?! I tossed and turned all night, and when I got out of bed, I was determined that the day would not end without me learning the identity of the missing woman. Walking into work that day, I was exhausted but relieved that someone there had to be the person to tell me. First, I asked Don. “Hey!” I said. “Who’s the woman who vanished?”&nbsp; Don stopped what he was doing and looked at me. “Who’s the what, Patience?” I blinked. “You know, the woman who disappeared the other day.” “A woman disappeared the other day?” he said. “Yes,” I said, with a sigh. “From here?” “Um,” I said, realizing that I had only assumed that the woman lived in our town. “I think so.” “I haven’t heard that anyone vanished,” said Don. “Oh,” I said. “Okay.” The same thing happened all day; not one person at my workplace knew the woman’s identity. Eventually, I wondered if they were all lying too, just like everyone else who I’d asked. From that day on, I stopped asking, and simply tried to sneakily eavesdrop on every conversation. It didn’t work, because once they saw me, the voices immediately stopped. “Why won’t you tell me?” I exclaimed. I want to know! Why am I not allowed to know?!” Silence. I started to watch the news every night, but I always managed to catch the story after her name had been mentioned. “WHY?!” I shouted to thin air one day. “I WANT TO KNOW WHO VANISHED!” I decided to take a vacation from work, and the following Monday I got into my car and drove, with no destination in mind. I don’t remember where I stopped, but I got a hotel room and went straight onto the balcony, looking out at the ocean. The sight calmed my mind, and for the next few days, I refused to think about the missing woman. When I arrived back at home, the first words that I heard was that she’d been found. “What?!” I exclaimed to my neighbor. “She’s back? Who is she?” Instantly, my neighbor clammed up, turned around, and walked away. A feeling of dread overcame me. Why did she do that? Dazed, I walked down the street, wandering aimlessly. Was this to be my life; forever wondering who had vanished, and being denied the information? For what reason? “Have they figured out what happened?” I suddenly heard. “They’re working on it,” another voice answered. I continued walking, suddenly not even caring anymore. “She was reported missing by her boss when she didn’t show up for work for three days,” the first voice said. “Police went to her home, and found her sitting on the floor of her livingroom, staring at nothing.” “Why?” asked the second voice. The first voice sighed. “Some kind of mental breakdown. All she’s done since then is sit here babbling, living some life inside her head, asking why no one will tell her something.” “Tell her what?” “We aren’t sure.” I kept walking, ignoring them now. “Everyone we’ve talked to is shocked,” said the first man. “Apparently, she’s never shown any signs of mental illness. It’s like one minute she was here, and the next second, she was gone…mentally. It’s such a shame.” Suddenly, I stopped walking, as I realized what they were saying. A woman hadn’t vanished from her home, she’d vanished from her mind, and I suddenly realized why no one would tell me who it was… …because it was me. THE END

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Such a Shame

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SUCH A SHAME

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Deana Lisi

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