The Novella Life of Illuscia Nester Himawari

    I was having a good day at work. Not too much to do, just enough to make the time pass and keep me busy. I gave a work friend a ride home and had a long talk. Turns out we’re both the youngest siblings in our families, which gave us a (surprising) amount of common ground. I got myself a chicken salad and drove home. I walked up the stairs to my apartment. I opened the front door, and right there on the wall with all the smiling pictures of my friends and family, was a blank picture frame. Empty. What the hell? While it didn’t ruin my night, it made me start asking questions. I wouldn’t just hang up a blank picture, and I wouldn’t put it in the middle of the hallway. I have this large hallway mirror with pictures hung up on the side, and it is kind of a centerpiece. Still, I couldn’t recall what would’ve been in that frame, and there was no photo that’d slipped out. I wasn’t planning on framing anything either, or if I did, I...

I have been living alone for the last 2 years. Fresh out of college I got a very stable and very isolating job in work-from-home Data Entry for a large medical company out west. I have always been a keep-to-myself kind of person, and I never really had any friends that didn't last through the next grade or semester. I just never found myself as someone who got much out of long-term company and interaction. I had plenty of so-called friends drop me when they moved to different states and cut all contact. These experiences of having someone and then losing them have turned me off from friendships and relationships altogether. I know it's not healthy for me, but at the end of the day, I always find comfort in knowing that I always have myself to keep me company. I found a great third-floor apartment near where I went to school, and being very familiar with the area after four years moved myself in from my dorm with no trouble. Remote work from h...