Loneliness had been an epidemic that left all of my body boarded up. You were supposed to be the cure.

But I’m still feeling sick. I hope you can forgive me; I am going to eat this whole sandwich alone.

Because I am hungry, and because you are not real.

Couri Johnson is a graduate student of the NEOMFA, focusing on fiction. She is currently the president of YSU’s Student Literary Arts Association, and editor of the Jenny.