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Maps of the Lost @mapsofthelost.com · 08/05/2025

It’s daytime in a late autumn, but the light’s never amounted to much, the clouds low and although it’s not raining the air feels wet. Everything is shades of grey. As you walk through the city, everyone’s got their heads down, hurrying to get to wherever they are going.

Your foot hits a slick of rotted leaves on a metal drain cover and slides, and you jerk to stop yourself falling, flailing your arms, and only just get your balance. Embarrassed, you look up to see if anyone has noticed, and everyone is gone.

Cars stand empty on the street, as if parked in a line from the traffic lights. The pavements are deserted. The lights in all the shops are on but you can see that no one is browsing, no one is standing behind the counter. You look down at your own feet to make sure that you are still there, and see your boots, a clot of leaves still stuck to the bottom.
 When you look back up, the world is there again, cars move and people shuffle past you and the shop door next to you hisses open and shut, open and shut, as people go in and out.

This has never happened to you again, but there are moments sometimes when you wonder to yourself whether what you see is true or what you saw is true.