Anthony squirmed in the bucket seat as he shoved the cell phone in his pocket, and reached for the headphones lying to his right on the passenger seat.

He checked the time, 6:12pm, then surveyed the parking lot: still no Julia.

The parking lot at the swamp trail entrance was empty, as usual. Not many people came down here during the week, which made it the perfect spot for a quiet run. He and Julia met in different locations to run each week, but this was his favorite. It was a secluded place, and he preferred the company of nature to the shouts of bratty children or sneers from fellow runners. People were inconsiderate, and he preferred to keep his distance from them.

He took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. Where was she?

His eyes scanned the parking lot once more.

Julia was usually prompt, and rarely did she arrive late. He was certain they had said to meet at 6. They always met at 6.

“Well, no point in just sitting here waiting.”

Anthony slung the car door open and hopped out. He decided it would be a better idea to wait outside: the view was more enjoyable this way. His windshield hadn’t been washed in weeks, and it seemed rather hypocritical to enjoy nature through mounds of dried bug guts.

Shoving the headphones in his pocket, Anthony walked in the direction of the trail, and noticed something glint in the sunlight to his right; what was that? Maybe a quarter? A lucky penny would be nice.

Everyone needed a little luck now and then.

Having nothing else to do but wait, Anthony walked towards the object shining in the sun. As he got closer, he saw it was much bigger than a coin. Maybe he had really found something valuable here!

It looked like…

Was that?

He knelt down beside it, making sure he hadn’t been mistaken, and a feeling of dread swam over him.

He sprung to a standing position and looked around quickly, surveying the parking lot, his surroundings, the woods: no one in sight.

“Julia!” he shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth to create a megaphone effect.

He waited a moment, the dread tightening in his stomach as he did.

“Julia! Are you out here?”

He looked back down at the ground, at the phone lying in the parking lot, at the photo inserted into the back of the clear casing. It was a photo of his best friend. A photo he and Julia had taken last year at their company Christmas party. She always kept that photo in her phone case. There was no mistaking the phone: it was hers.

He wasn’t sure if he should pick it up, or leave it.

Was it evidence? Had someone taken her? Or had she just dropped it?

His stomach started to turn. He felt something rising in his throat and he forced it back down. He had to keep himself together.

“Julia!” he shouted one last time, then scanned the perimeter: nothing.

He pulled the phone from his pocket, unlocked the screen, then hesitated.

‘Should I call the police?’ he thought, ‘Is this an emergency?’

He didn’t know. He wasn't sure.

He opened up his message history instead to scan through the texts she had sent him earlier in the day. What was he missing? How did this phone end up here?

That’s when he saw it. The time. He had gotten the time wrong.

In her message from earlier this morning, she had adjusted the meeting time, and he had missed it. How had he missed that?

Julia had arrived at 5, not 6, and something had happened to her. Something awful.

He dialed 911, then sank down onto the ground and curled into a ball; this was all his fault.