Ophelia

For a long time, you suffered from insomnia. And every time you went out at night, you saw the same girl at the playground. She called herself Ophelia.

You knew nothing about her, but you loved talking about yourself. Maybe that’s why you had no friends. Well, except for Ophelia.

You never saw her during the day, but every night you’d meet in the same spot. She always sat inside the slide and, hearing you approach, would come down to greet you.

One night, she wasn’t at the playground. Instead, in the place where she usually waited for you, lay a missing person flyer with her picture on it. What did that mean? Unwilling to believe your eyes, you ran to every spot you’d ever visited with Ophelia. Finding her by the riverbank, the girl stood up and pointed under the bridge.

“You’ll find me there.” After those words, she vanished into the air like a hologram. Trembling all over, heart pounding against your ribs from fear, you climbed down the rocks under the bridge and found her body among the algae and silt—swollen and decomposing. The stench was unbearable. You couldn’t remember how you got home. But when you came to your senses, that missing person flyer was lying on your desk.

What will you do?