My brother was gone by the time I had returned. A short note on the table explained that he would be gone for a day. Maybe two days. I left it there, as if the thin sheet of yellow paper could make up for his absence. Mechanically, I turned to the mundane aspects of life that he had left behind. On the other side of the kitchen wall, I could hear the banging of pot lids and the whistling of steam vapor escaping kettles. A radio blasted rap, and after a few verses, Kai joined in as well. The hustle and bustle of activity continued well into the night, until the radio stopped playing and there was a sigh of contentment that I could hear from my side of the bedroom wall.

Perhaps, on the other side of the wall, loneliness was a shadow that disappeared with the flip of a light switch and an off-key note.