Why had every single person given the same story—that they'd never seen her?
Why had every photo on my phone vanished?
"Amy, where the hell are you?!"
I was teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown, screaming at the top of my lungs.
Melissa and the other flight attendants kept trying to talk me down.
"Sir, your behavior is seriously disturbing the other passengers. Please return to your seat immediately and remain calm."
I shook my head over and over. "No. My girlfriend is missing. I have to find her."
My relentless outburst forced the plane into an emergency landing at the nearest airport.
The moment the cabin door opened, several airport police officers boarded. Melissa rushed up to the one in front—a captain whose badge read Karl Gray—and pointed straight at me.
"This is the man. He boarded alone, but he insists his girlfriend vanished somewhere on the plane. He refused to listen to reason and has been causing a disturbance, disrupting every passenger on board."
I didn't want to end up in a psychiatric facility again, so I forced myself to stay as steady as I could.
"Officer, I haven't been causing trouble. I'm looking for my girlfriend. Her name is Amy Pruitt. She boarded this plane with me, and now she's gone."
"She has to still be on this aircraft. Please, I'm begging you—help me find her."
After my repeated pleas, Captain Gray finally agreed to search the plane.
They were thorough. They checked every inch. But in the end, there was no sign of Amy.
Gray studied me with a guarded expression, his voice low and even. "We've searched this aircraft inside and out. We've opened every passenger's luggage, checked every compartment. There is no girlfriend matching your description."
"A living, breathing person doesn't just vanish from a sealed airplane. Are you certain she boarded with you?"
Tears burned behind my eyes. "I'm certain."
"I took photos of the entire boarding process—us walking through the gate, finding our seats, everything. I posted them on social media and sent them to my family group chat. The posts and messages are gone now, but my parents and my friends all saw them."
The sincerity in my voice must have gotten through, because Gray picked up his phone and called my parents on the spot.
But when he asked my mother whether she'd seen the photos I'd shared in the group chat, her voice came through bewildered.
"What photos? I never saw any."
"Besides, my son has always been single. He's never had a girlfriend."
The words hit me like a bolt of lightning. My head went blank.
I lunged toward the phone, disbelief cracking my voice. "Mom, what are you talking about? You know Amy and I have been together for three years! You've been waiting for me to bring her home to meet you!"
My mother went quiet for two seconds, then sounded even more confused.
