An abandoned phone

I was jogging in the park as usual when I noticed a phone lying down in the grass. I picked it up and looked around to see if anybody had accidentally dropped it. But none of the passers-by claimed its ownership. The phone was quite old. The model was unavailable in the market. The black cover behind was greasy and tattered. I turned to the other side. The front screen had several small cracks. I clicked on the home button, and up came a picture of a small Bull dog with his tongue out playing with a ball in grass. It was Mr. Jones’ dog, rescued a couple of weeks after Mrs. Jones’ accident. Hence was named after her.

I got past the security PIN, ‘Mollie’. A lucky guess. The phone was filled with her pictures and videos. I checked Contacts to inform them about the lost phone. There were barely any. I called one. Upon snooping around, I discovered he had many unanswered calls & messages. Most of them were condolences. A few checked up on how he was doing. The conversations were a month old. There were repeated reminders from his bank on the loan repayments lest risking defaulting. He had taken a loan to start his own company dealing in antiques. But he suffered losses and was unable to settle dues.

His wife was his pillar of support, and also his business partner. When she passed away, it took a toll on him in both personal and professional front. They were a happy couple, as can be seen from the many photos of their trips. But one incident changed their lives trajectory forever.