“It’s me, Mom!”, Emily said. Her dad stared in shock, struggling to recognize his daughter’s distorted face. Emily’s mom reached out a tentative hand to touch her cheek. “What happened to you?”, she whispered. Sophia quickly explained finding Emily like this after her day at the beach.
Their dad’s face grew pale. “But that was over eight hours ago! Where have you been all this time?”, he asked. Emily shook her head in bewilderment. The hours after the beach were a complete blank. “I only remember being on the beach this afternoon, it was crowded and sunny. And the next thing I knew, I was there all alone in the dark, confused, and feeling this strange pain all over my body”, she explained.