English: Abbey Wood There is a large stream at...
English: Abbey Wood There is a large stream at the bottom of the wood and due to the slope, much flooding at the bottom of this coppice. It is easy to get lost around here if you wander off the footpath. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is how it is going to happen.

You will wander further and further off the path of what your life was supposed to be until you are in an entirely alien landscape.

Old friends will form search parties, flashlights and bloodhounds and your name called over and over, but eventually they will give up and, before too long, your name will be in a foreign and forgotten tongue.

You will look desperately at strangers, wanting them to direct you home, but when you try to speak the words, your voice will be snatched away.

Street signs will jumble into something else when you look at them a second time. You will wonder if you’re in a dream, but how could you be in a dream for this long?

You will wander the streets, turning corners at random, trying to remember if you’ve tried this way before but your memories dissolve like sugar in water when you try to examine them.

Eventually, the leaden weight inside you will make clear that there is no going back. You will find a deserted street and you will make yourself into a ball on the sidewalk and then, and only then, you will cry.