I went to my local post office yesterday. There were only two till points open, with the usual just-past-middle-aged workers serving the growing queue of the elderly. That's why, a couple of years ago, a new worker caught my eye. She was young and pretty and didn't really belong in a post office. She always tied her long blonde hair back and wore a name tag which said "Kerry". Over the years I'd secretly look forward to seeing her whenever I went in there, although I was always too shy to actually talk to her, even when she served me. That's just me.
It's a strange feeling when someone you see regularly is suddenly gone, even when you don't really know them. When I walked in yesterday I noticed a bouquet of flowers next to a photograph of a young blonde woman playing with her baby. The writing said "In loving memory of Kerry Shaw, who died suddenly on October 27, 2003, aged 30."
So she's gone. She missed yesterday, it was a beautiful autumn day.