As I reached the parking lot at the high school, I got the first sinking feeling in my stomach. I ignored it. The parking lot was mostly empty with just a few cars coming and going. That didn't seem right. The game must have ended sooner than I thought it would. I circled around the parking lot, but didn't see my son and his friends in any of the spots where we usually met him. I parked and decided to go over to the gym and see if they were helping to clean up after the game. I didn't see any other people coming out of the gym. I began to get that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach, but again pushed it aside. My son was a good, responsible kid. Nothing bad could have happened to him. Could it?
   I looked inside the locked doors of the gym. Most of the lights were out, and the only person I saw was one of the school custodians sweeping the gym floor. I turned and looked around the quad area in front of the gym, but didn't see anyone. I walked back to the van becoming more agitated by the second. Still, I thought that there must be some kind of mistake. Maybe the game got moved to another location or the parents who had driven the kids to the game already picked them up and they'd all gone to get something to eat after the game. There had to be another explanation. I didn't let my mind go to where I feared the answer might be.
   Upon reaching the van I called home on my cellphone. My wife answered. I told her the kids were nowhere to be found at the high school. Had she heard from Curtis yet? She responded that she had not heard from our son. I tried to keep my voice calm, but I was feeling increasingly agitated. Where was our son? Why hadn't he checked in with us like he always did? That accident I had passed by earlier...no, it couldn't be. Could it? Bad things like that don't happen to good people like us...do they?