I still look for you. Years later. It doesn’t matter where I am. The laundromat folding clothes. The bakery aisle of the supermarket. A coffee shop or some dive bar. I stop what I’m doing for a few moments, pause my life to glance around expecting you there. Once, I thought I saw you in a crowd of people coming out of the subway. I walked three blocks before I realised it wasn’t you and you weren’t there. I still look for you. Years later. Even though I know where you are. You’re in the cemetery because I wasn’t there.

Stephen J. Golds was born in the U.K, but has lived in Japan for most of his adult life. He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs. Glamour Girl Gone, his debut novel, will be released by Close to The Bone Press on January 29th, 2021. Follow him on Twitter @SteveGone58.