I stood in the kitchen and forgot why I walked in

Dear Delyara, I had come in with a reason. I know I had. Something small, probably practical, probably for somebody else. Then I stood there between the kettle and the fruit bowl and my mind just went blank. That tiny blankness frightened me more than it should have. Not because I think I’m losing my mind. Because I know exactly what it comes from. Too many things held at once. Too many unfinished loops. Too many people’s needs living in one tired head. I remembered eventually — lunch money for my daughter — but by then the moment had already stayed with me. I think this is one of the quietest forms of exhaustion. You keep functioning, but the edges of your attention start fraying in public and private little ways. No one else notices. You do.