He jumped into the water.
He searched until exhaustion nearly pulled him under too.
Rescue teams came. Divers searched for days. Volunteers walked along the banks and examined every bend in the river.
Janice was never found.
The authorities eventually described it as a tragic accident.
But no official conclusion could explain why Jeremy stopped speaking.
At the funeral, he stood beside me in a small black suit, his fingers locked around mine. He did not cry. He did not ask questions. He simply stared at the empty coffin surrounded by flowers.
Before that day, he had been a lively child who talked from the moment he opened his eyes in the morning.
After that day, he never said another word.
