She ran a finger along a side table on her way past, half expecting to find dust. Finding instead a surface so clean it might have been wiped that very morning. Nothing about theroom matched the warm, cluttered life Josie used to describe over video calls years earlier. Throw pillows and half-finished puzzles and a coffee table always covered in mail.
“Josie?” she called out, quiet at first.
Nothing answered.
“Josie?” Louder this time.
Still nothing.
She set her suitcase down and walked further inside. Drawn forward by a mixture
