The kitchen felt lonelier than usual

Dear Delyara, I was standing in the kitchen tonight making something simple to eat, and suddenly the whole room felt too quiet. Same light. Same cup. Same sink. Same fridge. But tonight the quiet felt like absence, not peace. I think that’s the strange thing about loneliness. It can arrive in familiar rooms and make them feel foreign. Nothing changes visibly, and still everything feels emptier. I ate standing up. I don’t know why. Maybe because sitting down would have made the quiet feel more real.