I Stood in the Hallway and Couldn’t Remember Why I Walked There

Dear Delyara, I walked out of the kitchen into the hallway with purpose — I know I had one — and then just stopped. There I was, standing between the coat hooks and the shoe basket, staring at the wall like I had wandered into somebody else’s house. For a few seconds, it was just gone. Then my daughter asked me where her library book was, and I answered automatically, and whatever thought had sent me into the hallway in the first place disappeared under the next need. That’s what unsettled me. Not forgetting. Getting overwritten. My own thoughts now feel like weak radio stations. Everybody else’s needs come through louder. Mine fade out first. I went back to the kitchen without ever remembering what I meant to do. That stayed with me all night.