The Main Character

When I was a young woman, I left home to live and survive on my own. As I was gone, I met a man who showed me a life without social media. We moved around travelling together, eventually got married, and never looked back. I lost contact with people in my hometown and made new friends where we settled down to live. I changed my name to Mrs. Ava Hunt when I got married, changed my phone number for work, and changed addresses more times than I can remember. 

After six years of leaving my past behind and starting on the path of a simplistic lifestyle, I decided to revisit my hometown with my husband. I want to see what’s changed and reconnect with those I lost contact with. Home will always have a nostalgic place in my heart. 

I wander the town, only to witness petrified faces looking my way. Strange. They have the pale expression cross their face like they’ve seen a ghost. More people keep giving me the same glance as I continue walking the once familiar streets. I stop at the local library to search my name and the town name into the search engine. This can’t be a coincidence that I’m getting these kind of looks.

I type in “Ava Deleon Balland”. 50,021 results. What is going on here? I see police reports with photos of myself at the age of twenty-two or twenty-three amongst missing person files. 

Name: Ava Deleon

Age: 23

Height: 5’9 (181cm)

Weight: 150lb (68kg)

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS PERSON? CONTACT POLICE. 

“Pressumed dead after three years of searching for Ava Deleon’s body. Family is still hopeful she is alive.” 

I am shocked. I wasn’t missing, I just grew up! That’s why the people of Balland look like they’ve seen a ghost – I am the ghost. 

Back at home I have a job, I have my legal documentation and everything. I never knew this investigation was going on in Balland all these years.