Late October, 3:47 AM, Miller's Diner on Route 9 near the Blackstone River. A man walks in soaked to the bone, flannel clinging, work boots squelching. He orders black coffee and just stares at it. I notice the algae on his collar, the smell of river mud, the way he doesn't shiver. The lights flicker, the clock stops, and when he finally speaks, he asks for a phone—but this diner hasn't had a pay phone in years. I try mine, but the line is dead. He stands, leaves a wet trail to the door, and I follow him out into the mist. He walks toward the river, then vanishes. All I find is a crumpled newspaper from three days ago with a headline about a body not yet recovered. A quiet ghost story about the ones who don't know they're gone, told from behind an old diner counter at the edge of dark water.