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— IN THE DARKNESS, THERE was a a ray of light shining through the underside of a door. Reese felt like she needed to see what was on the other side, a burning sensation in her lower back forced her forward. Her shaking hand gripped the knob and twisted, pulling the door open. Reese felt tears burn at her eyes as she recognized the hallway of the house on Sunrise Street. She glanced back and realized that the dark room she had been standing in had been her own. Reese let out a relieved cry. It hadn't been real. The fire. Her parents deaths. Moving across the country. None of it had actually happened, it was just a terrible nightmare.
"Mom!" She shouted, rushing down towards where she could hear the television playing in the living room. "Dad!"
Her parents were seated on the love couch, Paul's left arm wrapped lovingly around Mallory's shoulders while his right was positioned on the large swell on her stomach. Reese came to an abrupt stop, her eyebrows pulling down into a frown as she glanced around at the familiar room, but came to a sudden realization that there was no evidence of the twins; there were no class pictures on the mantel or perfectly organized magnets on the fridge in the kitchen. There were no toy soldiers littering the ground. It was as if the twins had never existed.
"Mom?" She repeated, but her parents never turned. "Mom, can you hear me?"
Mallory never even glanced in her direction. "Please," Reese begged, moving towards them until she was standing in front of Paul and Mallory, blocking their view of the news but they looked right through her. "Please see me."
"Mommy?" They turned for that, and Reese's eyes moved past them to see a young child holding a stuffed bear standing in the hall. Reese blanched; she was looking at a young version of herself. This isn't real, Reese let her shoulders deflate it's just a dream. But something was shouting at her in her brain, reminding her that this wasn't a dream but a memory. A memory long forgotten and pushed aside by more important things. Reese tried to call out for her parents again, but their attention remained on their young daughter.
