Alyssa,
If you were working in something like an online discussion or text submission assignment, unfortunately there isn't currently any type of auto save if you leave the page before submitting. I know this doesn't help you now, but there is new feature coming out in the near future which will auto save your work in these types of things for at least that last hour.
However, when working on anything on the internet where you are filling out a form and it's a bit of typing, it's a good idea to first type in a local program on your computer, and then when ready you can copy/paste what you typed into the web form. I know this doesn't help for the work you've lost, but sadly there really is no way to retrieve it.
Rick
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