The Missing -2014- (RECENT)

Then came the last week of August. Leo was in the treehouse, waiting for her to show up with a stolen six-pack of root beer. She didn’t come. He waited an hour. Two. Finally, he walked across the field, his boots wet with evening dew.

Leo nearly fell out of the tree. He waved back, stiff as a flagpole. Then she cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “You gonna watch me all summer, or are you gonna come down?” the missing -2014-

The house was empty. No porch chairs, no curtain flicker, no Mira. The For Sale sign was gone. In its place, a single sheet of notebook paper taped to the front door, weighed down by a flat gray stone. Then came the last week of August