scurried from underneath, but that was all that was there. A hot tear slipped down Helen’s right cheek as she decided to check the console next to her again. Each time she was greeted with loose crumbs, a plastic straw, pens, sunglasses, and the owner’s manual. She thought that if she checked one more time, it would appear as if it’s been in front of her face the whole time. It was now 4:45 and Helen was still going through her search-cycle, her face completely wet with tears. The bleeding had now stopped on her thumb, and began to dry. Helen was getting tired, mainly from how hard she was sobbing. She finally ceased her frenzied search, and slumped herself over the wheel. Her heart was racing. She thought she was having a heart attack. She had completely forgotten about Ben when she finally checked the time. She picked up her phone and saw that he had texted about five minutes ago. Helen wiped her cheeks with her right hand and unlocked her phone and opened Ben’s message which read: “Hey, I don’t think I can make it tonight. Sorry.” Helen slowly lowered her phone and gazed out her open window. The sky was preparing for sunset as a plane flew across. The black arrow shape became a blurry dot as she continued to look up. The blue sky was a watercolor background and the plane was a drop of black paint that was accidentally spilled onto the canvas. Helen watched as the plane left her field of vision, and she slowly crept back to reality. She grasped her keys, turned the ignition, and left the parking lot—no music to accompany her. ~~~~~~~~ The rogue singing bird continued its rhapsody as Helen lifted her head from her pillow. The room felt like it was spinning for a moment after she saw the notification from Ben, so she had to rest. After speaking words of affirmation to herself, she mustered up the courage to look at the message. There, on her phone, the message, in all its glory, read: “Hi.” Helen looked up and stared at her wall in disbelief. She began to feel her eyes muddy up, but stopped herself. She drew her attention back to her phone and deleted Ben’s contact. Right as she placed her phone on her nightstand, she heard her box fan slowly jump back into life. She heard Wendy’s joyful exclamations from down the hall. Helen smiled as she slowly slipped into a peaceful sleep.
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