Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance

At age 28, Sally looks back on the events following Kathy’s death. She recalls police telling her parents that Kathy’s death in the car accident was instantaneous.

In a flashback to the crash scene on Main Street, Billy leans over Kathy’s body and shouts her name. Sally asks if Kathy is dead, but Billy, bleeding himself, tells her not to look and to get help. Sally runs to a nearby house where a woman has already called 911. When Sally returns, police and EMTs are at the scene, trying to pull Billy away from Kathy’s body. An EMT checks Sally in an ambulance and confirms she is physically uninjured just as she sees her parents running toward her. A police officer, whom Sally recognizes as her former soccer coach “Jelly Roll,” questions her. Sally worries that the police think the accident was Billy’s fault. Sally believes it was her fault for making Billy drive her to school. The family is then taken to the police station and finally to the town morgue. Sally’s mother demands to see Kathy, but a doctor refuses. Instead, he presents two gold hoop earrings for identification. Richard fails to recognize them, but Sally confirms they belong to her sister.