I Waited on the Melting Snow While They Sang Her Birthday Song Chapter 07

The footage began at 4:40 the previous afternoon.

There I was, sitting beside the snowy trail with my phone propped against my backpack, my coat

still on.

Graham pointed at the screen. “There she is. Keep going.”

He turned up the volume.

The voices from the other end of my call were too muffled to make out, but my own voice cane

through clearly.

“Look at me.”

Graham stared down at his shoes.

The footage continued. My right sleeve slowly collapsed, and the hem of my coat settled onto the stone steps. There were no legs beneath it.

“Stop!” Elliot blurted out.

Mr. Lawson paused the video.

None of the three moved.

Finally, Miles spoke. “Keep playing it.”

At 4:57, I looked up toward the camera, as though I were still waiting for the person on the other

end of the call to look back at me.

At exactly five, the snow beneath the pine tree melted.

And I vanished from the footage.

My coat dropped onto the steps, leaving nothing but a little water behind. My phone’s screen

remained lit for a few more minutes before going dark.

Elliot reached out and touched the monitor. “Is something wrong with it? Play it again.”

Without a word, Mr. Lawson rewound the recording.

When the second viewing ended, Graham braced himself against the edge of the table.

“Where’s the original footage?”

“Still on the camera.”

They went to examine the device itself. The recording hadn’t been edited, and no one else had entered the frame.

‘ve been watching over this mountain for years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” Mr. Lawson said. “I called the police last night. They came, watched the footage, and said they’d keep investigating.”

Graham nodded. “Good. They should.”.

He didn’t rush to say what he believed had happened. But he couldn’t think of anywhere I could be hiding, either.

On the drive back, all three of their phones stayed silent.

Elliot was the first to speak.

“She called me yesterday afternoon. I was taking pictures of seagulls for Lily.”

Miles said, “She told me she couldn’t walk the trail that day.”

“She told me I’d never see her again after that day.” Graham’s voice was hoarse. “I accused her of

saying it just to pressure me.”

The car sat by the side of the road. No one urged him to keep driving.

Lily called again. Graham answered and, before she could ask anything, said, “We found the

security footage.”

“Is Nora okay?”

Graham stared at the mountain road ahead, unable to answer.

Lily could tell something was wrong.

“I tried to get you guys to go back yesterday. I really didn’t know anything like this would happen.”

“I know,” Graham said. “You don’t have to make excuses for us.”

After hanging up, he suddenly remembered the last thing I’d said during the video call.

Lily had asked me what I’d wished for.

I’d said I wanted all of them to be safe.

He covered his face. That day, all three of them had made it home safely.

I was the only one who hadn’t made it off the mountain.