This is a prompt from A Writer’s Book of Days by Judy Reeves: These are the things I lost. Yesterday and today I played around with this prompt, listing lost things. Today I tried flash fiction:

I lost my bike lock first. Then I lost my bike. I lost my temper, out front of the County Market. I lost days and nights that summer, to nothing, to staring at the television or the sky. I lost my job waiting tables because I got tired of walking there.

I lost my roommate when he came back in August. He emptied his room into his hatchback and drove a few blocks to his girlfriend’s. I lost the microwave, even though his girlfriend probably already had one. He said I could keep his for forty bucks. I said who needs a microwave.

I lost all the occasional cigarettes I bummed and a playlist better than mine.

I lost track of the days, showed up for an exam that was yesterday. At semester I lost my parents’ approval and then their money. I lost my probationary status spring midterm. I lost a lot of weight, walking around campus wearing a backpack weighted with a courseload I quit.

I lost my story. I couldn’t remember what I told my parents or sister. I couldn’t remember what I told my old friends when I saw them and had to say hi. I couldn’t remember what I told my advisor about taking a year off. I couldn’t remember what I told myself that morning.