I walked through the thick brush across a meadow toward the woods, my boots squelching in the mud. We were all spaced roughtly 20 feet part as we entered the treeline. The sky was grey and the air cool. It rained most of night and into the early morning hours but was now only misting. I tried to keep my focus on my surroundings; after all, that was the point of trudging through the woods in the first place, but I couldn’t help but think of Alice.

The last time I had seen Alice I had just arrived back to our apartment and she was curling her hair in the bathroom mirror with a curling wand.

“Where are you off to tonight?” I had asked.

“I have a date!” Alice exclaimed. “Do you remeber, Brett? The bartender from Mack’s?”

“The one with dark hair and a bad reputation?” I had inquired.

“I don’t exactly have the best reputation myself, y’know” Alice had quipped, “And yes. The tall, dark haired, handsome server. I bumped into him today and he invited me out for drinks tonight.”

We had met Brett one night while out drinkning with friends at a local dive bar. He was your typical, conventially attractive career bartender in his late 20s or early 30s who used his Saturday night shift to scope out future potential hookups. Unfotunately for Alice, Brett set his sights on her. But who could blame him? Alice was fit, average height with light brown hair and the most brilliant green eyes. Alice was known for falling in love at first sight. When she laid eyes on Brett that night at Mack’s, I knew she was smitten. Brett flirted with Alice all night and only charged her for a fraction of her drinks. She was so giddy when we returned home. Lovestruck by any male attention cast her way. We all tried to bring her back down to earth when she got like that but were never successful.

“Should I wear the blue one or the purple one?” Alice inquired while holding two sundresses with tiny white flower designs on both of them.”

“They are literally the same dress, Alice” I had advised her while rolling my eyes. Alice was the type of person who found a shirt, dress, or pants that she loved and bought it in every color she possibly could. Her closet was extensive, making outfit choices a daily struggle for her. She could be incredibly indecisive. Alice could never decide what to wear, what she wanted to eat, or if she wanted to date this boy or that. The latter of those had gotten her into trouble quite a few times as well as caused her to be notorious for having multiple love interests. Not only would Alice fall in love at first sight but she coudl fall in love while being in love. Or at least what she thought was love.

“Does Nick know you’re going out with Brett tonight?” I asked.

“Nick has been so distant. I can’t bear it.” Alice responded, “Maybe if he finds out he’ll put in a bit more effort. A bit of friendly competition really.”

“Nick has a temper and a bad mood.” I cautioned as Alice changed into her dress.

“Nick loves me. You don’t need to worry about it. Besides, it’s just drinks with Brett. Brett and I have nothing more than a casual flirtation… at the moment.” Alice stated.

Brett seemed to have a “casual flirtation” with lots of girls around town. There were rumors surfacing the last two days. Other girls who had gone “out for drinks” with Brett the bartender from Mack’s after previous casual flirtations had suddenly started revealing details of their respective dates. Or rather the lack of details they remember after getting drinks with Brett. Lots of other girls, just like Alice, had gone on there own dates with Brett but never seem to be able remember anything after their second drink. All these other girls claim they woke up the next morning unsure of how they made it home from the night before. Too embarassed to say anything, all of these women kept their mouths shut until now.

I stumbled over a root in the woods catching myself on a tree. As I focused on my surroudnings I noticed a grassy area uphead and heard the sound of running water. A stream. I walked forward, focusing more on my footing to not trip again. The grass was knee high and blocked my view of the stream but I knew it was just up head. As the sound of the trickling stream grew louder I noticed what looked like a possible mass in front of me, flattening the grass about 4 feet away. I slowly walked towards it to see what had caused the grass in that area to be flattened. Thats when I saw the blue sundress with tiny white flower designs on it.

My heart sank and I thought I might puke. I blew my whistle to signal to the other searchers I had found something.