Back in her room, she sat on her bed with her laptop open and her hands trembling. She needed to find him in the only place he had ever been easy to find: the internet. She checked all his usual platforms again. Nothing. Checked old posts. Old comments. Old threads. The accounts were still there, but it was like their owner had vanished mid-sentence.
Shirley opened a private message window. “Richard? Are you okay?” She waited, watching the cursor blink against the quiet screen, hoping for the typing indicator that always popped up within seconds when he was online. Nothing appeared. She tried again. “Please just say something.” Her words sat unanswered in the empty thread.