She Was Showing Up

I checked my daughter’s phone location at 3:58 a.m. And my heart stopped. My daughter,

Ava, 16 years old, was supposed to be asleep. School the next

day. Lights off. Door closed. But something felt off.

Her room was quiet. Too quiet. I opened the door. Bed empty. Window shut.

Shoes gone. I grabbed her phone from the kitchen counter. Unlocked it.

Location. One dot. Moving. Right now. A highway overpass.

My hands went cold. Why is my child under a bridge at 4 in the morning? I didn’t text.

Didn’t call. I drove. I parked with my lights off. Watched.