Theresa Bryant was sitting at home one day in Middleburg, Florida, when her friend Paula Kirk popped into her head.

The two women had been friends for a while, and Paula was the kind of reliable, fun-loving

friend who would always pick up the phone to chat.

Theresa hadn't seen Paula since the beginning of March and thought she should reach out.

What was she doing? Maybe they'd both been so busy that time and slipped away.

Theresa had been busy too.

As she grabbed her cell phone and began scrolling down to Paula's name in her contacts, as she typed out a message, something like, Hey Paula, how are ya?

It's been a while.

Are you doing okay?

Then she put her phone down and headed towards a sink

to tackle a few stray coffee cups and spoons from breakfast.

She turned on the water and let her finger run under it, feeling the stream go from icy to

warm.

She stared at the sunlight cascading onto the flower garden out her

kitchen window. Suddenly she heard a ping from her cell phone.

Theresa left the tap running and reached for her phone, flipping it over.

It was a text from Paula.

She smiled at her friend's name on the screen next to the little green square. I'm on vacation, it read.

Leave me the fuck alone.

Theresa was stunned.

Paula never spoke like that.

She wouldn't say the word, fuck, let alone type it out and aim it with such vitriol at her best friend.

...