The Day He Noticed
The memory was still vivid in his mind. He’d been unwinding at his favorite bar, savoring some well-earned downtime after a tough week, when his eyes drifted to the TV mounted above the counter.
Normally, he paid little attention to whatever was playing, but this time was different—a special news bulletin interrupted the usual noise. Glancing up, he saw the image of a young girl, no older than fourteen, staring back at him from the screen.
Disappearance
A bold blue headline ran beneath her photo: “Missing.” Instantly, he felt a pang of sympathy for the girl’s family.
He knew how easy it was for visitors to get lost on the island, especially if they weren’t aware of the local dangers. Still, he never imagined that his own life would soon become entangled with the fate of the missing teenager.
Months Later
Four months slipped by, and he found himself once again at that same bar. This time, though, he wasn’t watching TV—he was holding a soaked cell phone, recently pulled from the water. As he managed to power it up, the reality of the situation hit him hard.
The lock screen displayed a photo, and he immediately recognized the face. It was the same girl he’d seen on the news all those months ago.
Unbelievable
Lotan’s heart pounded as the implications became clear. He knew he should alert the police, but instead, he chose to investigate on his own.
Despite his experience as a diver, Lotan had no idea just how complicated the story behind the missing girl would become. He was about to get closer to the truth than anyone else.
About Lotan Anderson
Lotan Anderson was content with his life. Aside from the occasional bothersome tourist at the beach, he had little to complain about.
He adored Amelia Island, the place he’d been born and raised, and he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. His job was another source of pride—he truly felt he was living the dream.
The Salvage Expert
The thought of a routine office job had always repelled him. Even as a child, he sought out different ways to earn a living. Eventually, he discovered his passion.
He became a salvage diver, the go-to expert in his company whenever underwater cables or winches needed to be secured. His dependability and skill set him apart.
Master of the Deep
Lotan was a natural in the water. His employer trusted him to dive ahead of the team and locate cargo lost from ships near the harbor.
He’d plunge into the sea, guiding the equipment to whatever needed retrieval. The work was tough and sometimes dangerous, but Lotan wouldn’t trade it for anything—he was happiest in the water.
Well-Deserved Break
After an exhausting week spent hauling heavy containers from the ocean floor, Lotan decided he’d earned a little relaxation at a local beachside bar.
The island was full of tourist hotspots, but Lotan knew the hidden gems. He settled in with a cold craft beer, just as the bar’s TV flickered to life.
The Old TV
The bar’s television was an ancient relic—Lotan was convinced it was the same model his grandmother once owned. It was outdated and barely functional, but the owner refused to replace it.
The picture was grainy, and the audio was poor, but it was one of the few forms of entertainment the bar offered.
Charm in Simplicity
Despite its flaws, Lotan preferred the bar’s humble atmosphere over the overpriced, touristy venues elsewhere. The owner had run the place for decades, and Lotan had to admit, it had a certain charm.
He took another sip of his beer and glanced around the nearly empty bar. Then, something on the old TV caught his attention, pulling him into a story he’d never forget.
A News Report
Lotan didn’t normally pay much attention to the TV, but he couldn’t help but notice a news report appear on the cracked screen.
He looked more closely at the report and realized that it was a missing person report. “Another tourist, probably.” He bitterly remarked.
Problem With Tourists
Lotan had a vendetta against tourists. It was a long history, but the justification was that he had butted heads with them ever since he was an adolescent boy.
He watched his precious island get turned into a tourist attraction over the years. Gimmick bars and “cultural” performances made him feel sick. But this one tourist made him feel different.
A Teenager
He knew that when someone went missing, it was a good chance to be a tourist. They just didn’t have any street smarts and either met their end in some alley or met their end being adrenaline junkies.
He hated how careless they were. But then he saw the face of the missing person on the screen. It was a teenager.
No Older Than Fourteen
He clutched his beer bottle a little tighter as he realized the girl he was staring at couldn’t have been older than fourteen. He was generally very hard on tourists, but when it came to kids, he had a soft spot.
Their parents generally are the ones that drag the whole family to the island for a “once in a lifetime” experience. She probably didn’t do anything wrong.
Overemotional
Lotan sat at the bar for a moment while he collected himself. He realized that he was being overemotional. He had devoured four beers and knew that’s what normally triggered it.
He tried putting the adolescent’s face out of his mind so he could enjoy his evening. But Lotan had no idea how intertwined their lives were.
A Rocky Week
Lotan found himself feeling a lot more spooked than he expected. The girl’s face haunted him for the rest of the week, and it even affected his performance at work.
It didn’t help that he kept seeing her face on the news everywhere he went. It seemed that she was the topic of discussion on everybody’s lips.
Details
With everyone talking about her, that’s how he learned her name and where she had gone missing. Her name was Amy Jones, and she was only fourteen years old.
She had gone kayaking early one morning with a new friend she had made at the same Resort. Her parents never gave her permission to go, and it had dire consequences.
Disappeared
Amy was a teenager and, understandably, in her rebellious phase. But that didn’t mean she deserved what happened to her next.
Three hours later, they snuck out. Her newfound friend returned alone and had to explain to her parents that she had fallen into strong currents close to Lotan’s hometown.
Grief Beyond Comprehension
Her parents were understandably grief-stricken. Just by the state of their faces on the news, he could see grief beyond comprehension.
His heart bled for the family and for that of the girl. Her case was updated in the news every week, but it seemed that there was never any important information found.
A Reward
Just one month after she disappeared, Lotan saw that the family had put out a $100,000 reward for any information on her safe return.
It figured that the family was rich; most rich families chose the island as their holiday destination of choice, he thought to himself. But he had no idea what he was about to find.
Four Months Later
Fast forward four months after Amy had gone missing, and she had become just another pretty face on a missing person flier.
The media had stopped giving updates after two months, and it seemed everyone had given up. But Lotan hadn’t forgotten about her, she wouldn’t enter his mind nearly as often anymore, but he still thought of her sometimes.
A Dive Just Like Any Other
Lotan was still doing what he did best, recovering large containers that cargo ships had dropped. But today would be different.
The experienced diver and his team were sent out two miles from the shore to search for a container full of copper wire. It was a precious thing to lose in that quantity, and he’d be paid well for finding it.
Finding It
With Lotan’s skills, he managed to find the container after only three hours of searching. He gave the go-ahead to drop the winch down so he could affix it to the container.
But just as he attached the winch and was about to signal them to go up, he saw something embedded in the sand not far from the container.
A Phone
Lotan wasn’t surprised at first. Strong ocean currents mean that waterlogged items often collect together on the ocean floor, so something else, being where the container was, wasn’t out of the ordinary.
But as Lotan got closer, he couldn’t believe his eyes. It was somebody’s phone! He carefully pried it from the rocks and substrate and put it in a zipper compartment on his wetsuit. He had no idea what he had just found.
Getting Back
Lotan went along with the operation as usual, and his team winched it on board. He loved standing on the container as it got lifted out of the water and onto the deck.
They headed back to the port and unpacked their prize. The copper was immaculate and meant they’d see a good payday. Lotan went to his small office at the docks and examined the phone.
Charging It
Lotan left the phone in an aerated cupboard and plugged it in at the same time. He knew that it was a slim chance of it working, but it happened more often than people thought.
He had recovered more than one phone before, and sometimes he was lucky enough to return them to their owners. But this phone was more special than he ever imagined.
Celebrating
Lotan decided to go to his usual dingy bar to celebrate his accomplishments at work. He took the old phone off of charge and took it with him. Maybe someone there would know who it belonged to.
He got to the bar and ordered something stronger than usual - a whiskey. He slammed one back and took out the old phone.
Remembering
Lotan hadn’t been back at the bar in months and had avoided it for a reason. He was always reminded of the missing girl when he went there. Right on time, he thought of the flickering TV screen showing her face to him.
He held the power button on the phone as he kept staring at the TV behind the bar that was off. He didn’t even notice the phone turn on.
Brought Back
He was brought back four months ago when he first saw her on television. He re-lived that moment and could see her face clear as day on the TV screen even though it was off.
But then the most shocking thing happened. He stared down at the waterlogged phone only to see her face for real.
Her Phone
Lotan nearly jumped out of his seat. It was uncanny; he stared at the phone that was now on and asked for a password. Behind the prompt was a wallpaper with an eerie picture.
He could see Amy as clear as day. She was standing in the photo with her family. Then it clicked; this was her phone; did the river she was in that day really carry the phone all the way out to sea? He understood what this meant.