Disclaimer: I did not put Phil on the side of a milk carton, not do I have any leads on who owns Phil of the Future.
M.I.A.
"When somebody besides you actually misses him, then we'll start looking, Keely."
Cold. How could they talk about him like he didn't matter? Everyday they see him at school, and then one day, POOF! He's gone, maybe forever. His trademark grin, the twinkle in his eye ... you'd think someone would care, at least question what happened, but everyone seems to be more involved it what is important to themselves than to care for someone else; someone maybe needing help. These people give teenagers a bad name. I put my petition away without having any success with it for days.
I'd rush to do an in-the-field investigative story on it, but my usual cameraman isn't around. We're a team, you see? And it just doesn't seem right, possible even, to do so without him, so I put up "Have You Seen" posters around the school and neighborhood. Mom thinks I'm crazy and it's none of my business, and the school staff is relieved that his craziness is absent. Oh, my classmates play being sympathetic, yet I've caught their shared glances, tittering, and eye rolls. They don't care, in fact, I really think they're happy he's gone! I know I've been a basket case before when I thought Phil might be leaving, but this is different. This time it's real.
No use. I ask Dennis to take over Phil's place on the camera and prepare to attempt to tap the power of the masses yet again with my morning news report.
"Hello H. G. Wells. I'm Keely 'I-can't-believe-he's-really-gone' Teslow. It's Day Eleven of our missing person's watch and here is what is new -"
Dennis takes his eye away from the camera's viewfinder as I pause. I look to him, only to find him shrugging his shoulders. There's nothing new. Not a word since his disappearance. All of a sudden, I wonder philosophically out loud, "If no one is looking for you, how can you be missing? Doesn't anyone care?"
Slience. It's the universal unspoken "no."
Poor Mr. Hackett, nobody misses him, but me.