The stranger bumping into her side barely caught Lana’s attention. She was in her own word, listening to music over Bluetooth earphones.

“Disconnected”

The music had stopped. She felt for her phone, wondering if the battery has died. It wasn’t there.

Then she remembered the person who has bumped into her left side. The same side as her handbag, the front pocket of which had been holding her phone.

Lana looked around, but couldn’t see anyone suspicious. She couldn’t remember what the stranger looked like, or if she had seen him at all. She had been too lost in her own world.

It took two hours to make a report to the police. She knew it wouldn’t achieve much, but at least when her mother asked, she could say she had done it.

It was dark by the time Lana got home. Her scarf was tight around her neck and chin, arms deep in pockets. She was so cold she found herself placing her wireless earphones back in, to shield what little they could from the cold.

Lana waited until the last second to find her keys, reluctantly taking one hand from her pocket and wishing she’d worn gloves.

The keys weren’t in their usual place. She normally placed them in the second pocket inside her bag, so that they wouldn’t jingle.

She continued feeling for them. Maybe she’d left them at work?

Within the second that Lana considered breaking a window, she changed her mind. The front door was unlocked. As she walked inside, Lana tried to remember: did she leave her keys at home, rushing out without locking the door?

But no, Lana remembered fiddling with the key chain at work. Then… she had been in a rush to leave work. She had thrown then into the front pocket of her bag. Next to her phone.

There was a creak down the hall, just barely covered by the sound from her earphones.

“Reconnected”