Autumn Huntington Whitherspoon sat on her balcony thinking about how blessed she was to have the life she has. She’s the daughter of one of the most renowned families in Arkansas, Alex and Arial Huntington and married to a wonderful and devout Christian man, with a successful career as a judge and three amazing children. And in addition to that she has four of the best friends anyone could ever imagine. Autumn Whitherspoon has a thriving family counseling service and their family is a prominent figure in the community. She had been more blessed than she could ever imagine. When she thought about it, it seemed frightening, so much so that it made her shiver. She continued thinking as she wrapped herself in her favorite blanket while waiting for her husband, Blake, to come home. He had called her earlier to tell her what time he would be returning. The kids were spending the night with her parents. Being lost in her thoughts, she didn’t realize the time until she heard the doorbell rang. “Oops, I bet I locked the top lock so he probably can’t get in,” she said aloud.

Autumn hurried to the door and peeped out, seeing that it wasn’t Blake outside but one of his friends from the police department. “Tyler, what are you doing here?” she said after opening the door, not inviting him in. “I thought Blake was meeting you down at the department.”

          “He was.” Suddenly, a chill raced through her body, and for that moment she felt as if her entire body was frostbitten. “Autumn, may I come in, please?” She stood there, unable to move and then he said her name again. “I’m sorry Tyler, what is that tone in your voice? Why are you sounding like that?” she asked warily, as if she knew what he had come to tell her. “Come on in, it’s a bit chilly out there.” She offered him something to drink not wanting to hear what he had to say. “No Autumn, thanks, but I need you to sit down.”

          “Okay, Tyler, what is it? What is going on?.”

          “Autumn, Blake’s plane…” he hesitated and took a deep breath. “His plane went down in the Arkansas River.”

          “No, Tyler. You’re wrong. He called me and told me that he would be home.”

          “I know, he called me too and told me they were about to take the plane in, and he would come by to pick me up. But then, after an hour or so later, we got a call that a small plane had gone down in the river. And then we got another call back that it was Blake’s plane. Casey was flying with him.” She couldn’t fathom the idea of Blake’s plane going down in the river. She jumped out of the chair and headed for the door, screaming, “I have to get out there.”

          “Get your coat on and I will take you.”

          The drive there was less than twenty minutes, but to Autumn it seemed much longer. Neither of them said a word to each other nor showed any emotion. It was like the both of them were numb.

          When they arrived at the scene they could see part of the plane sticking up from the water, there were police officers, firemen, the emergency unit, reporters, and lots of people standing around. They had to make their way through the crowd. The officers were doing their best to keep everyone back and out of the way. When they finally got through one of the officers told them that they hadn’t found anyone yet. Although it was dark and cold, they were going to search for at least another hour. But he wasn’t looking too optimistic about how the search was going. In fact, he pulled Tyler to the side and told him that if they did Casey and Blake, it was nearly impossible that they would have survived. The current was too strong.

          As they all stood around talking, it seemed as if they were standing on thin ice. Blake was well known and highly respected. He had the reputation of being the best judge in Arkansas, despite how strict he was in his courtroom.

          After a long hour and fifteen minutes passed, from the last update on the divers, the reporting officer came back with the news that everyone had been waiting for. The expression on his face told them that the news wasn’t good. “I’m so sorry Autumn, the water was too cold and it was too dark…They had to call off the search.” Autumn lost it. She said she would call her own team and keep looking. She was in no way ready to accept that her husband wasn’t coming home as he had said when he called her. Tyler put his arms around her, hoping to calm her. Finally, no longer able to stand on her feet, she went down to the ground, taking Tyler with her, crying and mumbling, “I can’t tell them. I can’t tell my children that their father isn’t coming home. I can’t do it Tyler. I have to call my parents. I have to go over there. The kids might see the news."

     “I’ll drive you,” Tyler offered. As soon as they got within a few feet of the reporters, cameras were jammed in their faces. Tyler and three other officers held them off until Autumn got in the car. This was not a time for comments or saying anything, for that matter. They wanted a story and had no respect for her lost.