It was a rare existential moment. A sudden realization of mortality, seizing to exist. washed away , gone – with no forwarding address. Jenny was almost in tears with disbelief. Al was sitting on the far end of a sofa in the other corner of the room, head bent and a lopsided smile on his old goat face.

maybe we are sitting in a transit lounge waiting for the bus to take us to the next stop or the destination. Yousef said with a nervous laugh. Then he got up and picking his car keys from the table he went to the door. I am out of here. Too depressing. Whatever time I have , I would prefer to spend it the way I want to spend it. and when the time came, I will embrace it quietly and annihilate. Simple as that. What good is talking about something not in my hands. . then opened the door and was gone swallowed by the night. we three of us sitting, quiet and lost.

hey, don’t worry kid, There are so many other worlds out there in space. maybe we have a home waiting there for us.

Without you, there is no home. Jenny said quietly. Al, who was getting up from his perch, sat back again. This can’t be it, for heaven’s sake. she said in a hushed voice – like whispering