I went to the fair last week and felt like a bit of a loose end. I walked around with my sisters and my nephew, my brothers-in-law, and a friend. But even in a crowd, I discovered you can feel lonely. Especially when you remember fairs from other years when there was a hand to hold and someone to share your food.

No matter which way you move when moving on, you’ll have to train someone— even if it’s just yourself. There’s an art to being alone. There’s an art to surviving the crests and swells of disappointment. The sputtering fuse of age.

I was never good at knowing the trick of it. And I’m not sure I can master it now.

When you’re young and step out into a summer night to gaze at starry skies, your life feels as infinite- as limitless- as those horizons. But when things begin to pass you by, you see stars and skies from bygone nights. And you try to distract yourself from the ghosts with a cute nephew and a dog with golden eyes.

© 2023 Katie Baker