They were gone in a blink.
Florida Gulf Coast's eight seconds were over, here and gone in a blink.
The golden age of theme restaurants in the late 90's came and went in a blink.
Other times, buildings, which go up and then may be gone in a blink, transform the block's singularity.
Gone, in a blink, were Lewis's World Boxing Council and International Boxing Federation titles, not to mention his aura as the best heavyweight of a mediocre millennium class.
Toppels, a cracker with cheese topping; Stuffers, a shell with a variety of fillings; Rumbles, a bite-size granola snack — they all came and went in a blink, and the company took a $52 million hit.
And who is it waiting on the riverbank with his hands in the willow branches, whose laughter tumbles swaying from a branch high above, whose is the face in the undergrowth in the corner of your eye, built of light and leaf-shadow, there and gone in a blink?
The next, entire families were gone in a blink of an ISIS bomb.
Some of the most memorable playmakers have come and gone in a blink of an NFL second.
In an email to this writer, Ivor Jenkins, former Director of Idasa, warned, "International donors seem not to understand that all their long invested aid especially those put into development will be gone in a blink of an eye if they do not continue supporting good governance and democracy building projects/organizations in the country they are withdrawing from".
