“Hey! Class has started. Where are you headed?” I froze as I heard someone call out to me. “I... Uh-” I turned around. “Haha, gotcha!” Exclaimed Eren, my annoying classmate. I scoffed and headed into the class. This place is annoying. Man, if Eren hadn’t gotten in my way, I would’ve been in the ground outside by now. The quiet, beautiful place full of dirt. Much better than this dump. Everyone hastily sat down as the teacher entered the classroom. “Okay everyone, today is going to be a fun day. Our subject for today is imagination.”

That piqued my interest. I mean, imagination is something we are all well acquainted with, but in my second year of high-school? This subject will be interesting, to say the least. Let’s see what she has to say. ”As kids, we were told imagination is power but is that saying true? As it turns out imagination is one of the most important things we as humans have. As a child, how many of you had an imaginary friend?” Almost everyone raised their hands. I’ve had enough of this. I’m leaving. This teacher was accustomed to me leaving during lessons and didn’t have a problem with it as long as my grades were consistent. “This lesson might help you, Aiden. I suggest you listen to what I have to say.” I, being the rude one, left.

I headed for the ground which was one floor below me. As I walked down the stairs, I noticed a girl. She walked right past me without making even eye contact. As I thought about it more, I realized I had never seen her before. As I came to that realization, I turned around to see the empty corridor. Confused, I continued to walk towards the playground. As I finally arrived, I saw a group of girls walk past me, snickering. “Isn’t that the lonely guy who mopes around the ground everyday? “Don’t be rude! He may be lonely, but I think he is a nice guy.” Said one of the girls, being reprimanded immediately by another one. At the ground, I saw the mysterious girl again. This time, she was going inside the building. Just as she entered, the bell rang. “Ugh. I’m going home.” I said aloud. Just as I got home, I fell asleep.

My father died earlier this year. Ever since then my mother has been living in another house. She said couldn’t live in the same house my father died in, so I have been living by myself these past couple of months.

I awoke to the sound of someone in my house. “Who’s there? Mom? Is that you?” I asked. “Oh? You’re up already?” A voice came from the kitchen. Suddenly, a girl emerged from the kitchen. She handed me a plate and sat down in front of me. We stayed quiet for a few minutes. It felt as if I was being interrogated but in a nice way. “Who are you?” I asked, pushing my food to the side. She gave me a puzzled look. She got up. “You know me. You’re the reason I’m here.” I got up. confused. I started to back away and darted towards the phone. She sat down. “I... How can I put this? Okay, I’m going to give to you blunt. I’m not real. Okay, I am real but also not. You see, you imagined me into existence.

It took me a while to process that. “So, I imagined you and now you’re real? I don’t remember imagining anyone.” I let go of the phone. “I don’t know, I just remember opening my eyes and all I remember is you. Where you live, where you go to school, and how to find you. That sounded like something straight from a movie, but whatever.” I thought about it more. I remembered the teacher’s words. Imagination is power. “Fine, I’ll believe you. For now...”

She didn’t have a place to stay either, so she slept on the couch in the living room. The next day, She went to school with me. “Hey Aiden! You’re here!” Yelled out Eren. ignoring the girl beside me. “You do see her, right?” I asked pointing at the girl. “See who? I don’t see anyone.” He replied. Scared, I moved away from her. Just as I did, another student called me out. “Yo Aiden, Is that a new student?”

Confused, I headed to class. “Alright everyone, we have a new student. And here she comes. Her name is Ethel. Please be nice to her.” Ethel entered, and sure enough, it was her. The girl I “Imagined” into existence. As she began introducing herself, I overheard some kids wondering if the teacher went mad because they couldn’t see her as well. “Teacher, nobody’s there.” a student called out. “What’re you talking about? She’s right there.” Another one said. She IS real! To some of us, at least, I thought. “You can go sit anywhere you like.” The teached told Ethel. She sat next to me. Even as she pulled the chair, some students still couldn’t see her.

Periods went by and even some of the teachers couldn’t see her. I couldn’t deal with this. “I’m going home,” I told her. ”This is annoying enough already.” I said and went home. This girl... People can and can’t see her, Why? Is she really imaginary? I’m confused. I turned on the T.V and flipped through the channels. “Ugh, nothing good. Again.” The doorbell rang. “Huh? Who could this be?” I went to open the door. “Hello Aiden! I-” I closed the door. I went home early to get rid of her, but here she is. She kept ringing the bell. “What?!” I yelled, opening the door. “It’s just that,,, no one can see me anymore. Unless you’re there, I’m invisible to everyone,” She said, entering the house. “I’ve been trying to find a place to live, but nobody’s talking to me. So that’s why I’m moving in. Hope you don’t mind!” She giggled. “You can have the spare room upstair.” She ran to her new room, filled with excitement and joy. This is going to be annoying.

“You like your room, Ethel? It used to be my parents’ room.” I asked. She was excited but tried to hide it. She nodded as she threw her bag on the floor. “This is fine. Actually, this is really good. Thanks a lot!”

I closed the door behind me as I left. This day was weird enough, I didn’t want it to get worse. I retreated to my room, collapsing on the bed as soon as I entered. “I used too much energy today. I feel tired.” I dozed off to sleep.

I woke up to a loud thud downstairs. Drowsily, I moved down the stairs to the living room, where I was met with a huge mess. Ethel was trying to make food, but she failed. Miserably. “How about you leave the food to me? Believe it or not, I can actually cook. I may be bad, but I can.” I explained. She had spices all over her. She’s destroying my house. If she continues to be this way, I’ll go broke. I wish she’d live with someone else. As I was busy in my thought, She was busy examining the T.V. “You want to watch something? The remote is right there.”

“How do you watch on this black screen?” She asked. At first, I thought she was joking, but I learned soon that she wasn’t. This girl had never seen a T.V. I turned it on and started flipping through channels. Her eyes went wide with amazement. I stopped on a channel and left the remote next to her. “If you want to change the channel, just press this button.” She was so engulfed in the infomercial that was playing that she didn’t respond to me. I, once more, retreated to my room.

I decided to stay home the next day. Obviously, Ethel didn’t let me. If I’m not with her, she’s invisible to everyone. But if I am with her, only some people can’t see her. We left for school a little late but made it to class on time. To my surprise, this time everyone could see her. Their confused faces gave it away. Eren motioned me to come to my desk. “Who’s the new girl? Did she just transfer?” He asked. He can see her now? He couldn’t see her the last time we met. This is confusing. “She’s a new student. She just transferred here. Her name is Ethel.” I answered. As everyone introduced themselves to her, I wondered why this is happening. Yesterday, not many people could see her, or even notice the things she was moving. Today, they all see her. Why? I continued to ask myself. The bell rang and everyone headed back for their seats.

School went by slowly, but it was finally over. I dashed home as soon as the final bell had rung. As I entered the door, I saw Ethel watching T.V with her eyes glued to the static playing. This’ll keep her busy for a while. I can relax. Finally.

I slept the entire day, waking up the next morning to get ready for school. We finished our breakfast and headed for school. Along the way, Ethel was quiet. She’s usually beaming with joy, but today seemed like the opposite. She seemed like she was drowning in despair. I was hesitant to ask but finally did. “Are you okay? You seem awfully quiet today. Is something wrong?” She looked puzzled. It took her a while to process the sentence. “I’m fine! Thanks for asking.” She said, showing me a smile. Fake. That’s a fake smile. I know it.

As we entered through the large school gates, I saw Eren. I went to him and whispered in his ear. “Something’s wrong with Ethel. She seems really sad and has been really quiet too. That’s not like her. She’s usually overflowing with joy. Did someone do something to her?” I asked Eren because he knows how people work. He could help me. He, too, gave me a puzzled look. “Who’s Ethel?”

“Who’s Ethel?” My heart dropped as I heard those words. I felt as though my ears were deceiving me, so I kept looking at Eren. He was not joking. “T-The girl! You met her! Look, she’s right-” Ethel was nowhere to be seen. Where is she?

I ran around the ground, desperate to find her. I darted back home. I burst in through the door. “Ethel! Where are you?” I yelled out. Why do I care so much about her? I’ve barely known her. Maybe she just left. That definitely didn’t happen. She would never leave just like that. I ran to her room. “Ethel? Are you in here?” No reply. “I’m coming in.” /i announced as I opened the door to her room.

Her stuff was gone. All of it. It seemed like no one had even come in here. All things seemed normal. All but one. The bed had a small piece of paper on it. It had her name written on it. Is she actually gone? Is it possible she was kidnapped. That seems unlikely. It’s hard to kidnap someone in a house, especially in this neighborhood. Could a teacher know? I’ll go and ask them.

I was late to school, but that didn’t matter. As I entered class, I saw Ethel. She was sitting there, looking sad. “Where were you?! I was looking for you everywhere!” I yelled pointing at her. Her eyes lit up as she saw me. Others started to see her as well. “Excuse me, this is a classroom! You may do this later, but for now, sit down!” The teacher scolded. I sat down on my seat. “Ethel, where were you? I was so worried. Are you okay?” I asked. She smiled back. “I’m fine! You don’t need to worry. I’ll explain after school, okay?”

We barely talked during school despite our seats being next to each other. I kept thinking why she disappeared. I finally gave up. I’ll just ask her after school. The bell rang. Time to ask, I guess. We walked home in silence. As soon as we entered the house, she ran to her room. I tossed my bag to the side and dived on the couch. Ethel changed her clothes and came downstairs smiling. “So, Ethel, about today-”

“I’ll explain. I became invisible again. Once you came back, I was visible. I had a dream similar to that. I was invisible, but this time, even to you. Nobody could see me. I was so scared. That’s why I was sad. I’m fine now. So don’t worry, I’m fine” She answered. Her fake smile slowly diminished. This is what she was worried about. How can I help her? As soon as she realized that she was no longer smiling, she gave me a fake smile. “Like that’ll ever happen! I promise! That will never happen!” I reassured her. “To prevent this from happening again, give me your phone number.” She looked confused. “What’s a phone?”

Ethel knew nothing about our world. She had no clue about technology. That’s why she didn’t have a phone. “It’s this handheld device people have. We use it mainly to talk to people over long distances,” I said, handing her my phone. “I’ll get you one too. I’m kinda feeling tired, so I’m going to sleep. Can I have my phone back, please?” I asked

“No, I want to see how it works. I’ll give it back later.” She was completely engrossed in my phone. I walked upstairs. I went to Ethel’s room. All her things were back. They were back to normal, except for the note. It disappeared. Why did her things go missing? I wonder... I used the landline to call Eren. “What?! You called?! God has bestowed upon me a miracle! I shall remember this day for the rest of my life.” I interrupted. “Yeah, cool. Do you remember Ethel now? The girl in our class? The one who sits next to me?” Deep down, I hoped he’d say yes. “No, sorry. The seat next to yours is empty, man. You must really be tired. Try and get some sleep.” He hung up.

The next day, Ethel made some friends. All of them could see her. She seemed a lot happier now that she told me her dream. I still have to stay nearby, or else she turns invisible. Even at home, Ethel seemed happy now. I got her a new phone so we can stay in touch. Even if I’m far away, I can talk to her but she’ll remain invisible to those around her.

“Ethel, we’re out of food. Can you please go to the shop nearby and get the things?

I’ll give you the list.” I asked, going through the empty cabinets. “Um, yeah, sure. Give me the list and I’ll do it.” She answered. I handed her the list. She dashed out the front door immediately with a look of determination on her face. I realized a couple minutes later that I had to go with her, or else she’ll remain invisible. I followed her to the shop. I decided to stay outside the shop. As I peeked in, I saw she had everything we needed. She was trying to carry it by hand to the checkout counter, but someone helped her out by giving her a cart. She put it on the counter, but the cashier didn’t see her. “Excuse me, miss? I would like to buy this,” Ethel asked. No response. “Can you see me? Hello?” No response. I rushed into the store. She seemed like she was about to leave. She didn’t see me as I entered the store. I bought the things and went up to her. “Haha, I realized I forgot to give you the money to buy the things.” She payed no attention to me. I heard her whisper under her breath. “This isn’t fair.”

“This isn’t fair,” Ethel whispered under her breath. I was beginning to get concerned. She didn’t speak at all during the walk home. When we arrived, she stormed into her room. “I better leave her alone,” I said. Despite me telling myself to leave her alone, I went to her room and knocked on the door. “Ethel? It’s me, can I come in?”

I waited for a reply, but she didn’t answer. I opened the door slowly to indicate that I’m coming in. She was sitting on her bed. She didn’t seem to react when I entered her room. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Ethel, are you okay?” Her eyes were closed, so I assumed she was sleeping. I moved away, scared I might wake her up. I was about to leave, but heard a loud thud. I looked behind and saw her on the floor. “Ethel! Are you okay?!” She still didn’t open her eyes. I got worried. “Open your eyes! Please, snap out of it!” I called an ambulance.

She was taken to a hospital. “Ethel has taken a lot of sleeping pills. A drug overdose. She’ll be fine in a couple of hours. Please take all the sleeping pills away from her to prevent this from happening again. You can go see her now,” the doctor said. I thanked her and went to Ethel.

“Ethel? It’s me, Aiden. I’m coming in,” I announced as I opened the door. She looked at me with a smile. “Aiden? Y-You’re here?! Why are you here?” Silence filled the room. I was so angry, yet so relieved. “You Idiot! Why do you take all those pills?! How did you even get them?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?” I yelled at her. She was smiling even as I yelled at her. “I’m sorry, Aiden. I didn’t think I’d worry you that much. I’m happy to know you worry about me. I thought I was nothing but a burden to you,” she said. She’s been hard on herself because she thinks she is a burden to me. What do I do now?

I took her home once the doctors allowed it. I asked her to sit in the living room while I bring her something. I checked her room for any sleeping pills. I looked at the bed and found a small box. Sure enough, it was sleeping pills. I headed back downstairs. “Ethel, you forgot something. Here.” I handed her the phone. “Your friends wanted to talk to you. They kept calling over and over.” She had tears welling up in her eyes. “How did you get the sleeping pills, Ethel?”

She started crying. “I-I f-found them in my room. It was in the drawer.” She said with a cracked voice. I comforted her. I didn’t think it was the right time to ask her why she took it. “The doctor said you aren’t allowed to take them anymore. Well, let’s forget all that, shall we? I will start preparing lunch. You go on and change into something more comfortable. Oh, and also, call your friends back. They must be worried.”

I started to prepare for lunch. In less than a minute of me being in the kitchen, Ethel came up to me and offered to help. I told her to talk to her friends while I handle everything here.

The next day, Ethel went out to the movies with her friends. As usual, I had to stay nearby. I probably looked like a stalker to those around me. During the intermission, Ethel called. “Aiden, are you doing okay? You know, if you want, I can come and go back home with you.”

“No need. You enjoy yourself. I’m having a good time here. I probably would’ve procrastinated if we were at home, but I’m actually catching up on homework here. Enjoy yourself and take as much time as you need. I’ll be here. Okay, bye!” I hung up. I banged my head on the table. I was so bored. I already finished my homework ages ago. I had to lie to her, or else she would’ve come back. I decided to sleep. There really wasn’t much I could do.

I woke up to someone shaking me in an attempt to wake me up. I jumped up from my seat and looked at my phone. 4 missed calls? From Ethel?! This is bad! I was about to run, but I saw her standing next to me. She was the one trying to wake me up. “Let’s go home,” She said with a huge smile plastered across her face.

The next day, Ethel refused to go to school. I had to go without her. Honestly, I was kind of scared that she’d burn the house down by the time I came back. I reluctantly went to school. At school, not many people asked about Ethel which was normal. Her friends seemed like they didn’t care much. I headed home early to see how she was doing. I didn’t want her to know that I came back early, so I carefully entered the house. I heard crying coming from upstairs. I darted upstairs to find where it was coming from. It was her room. I leapt into her room. “Ethel? What’s wrong?”

“A-Aiden! You’re back early. What’s wrong?” She said wiping her tears. She tried to hide the fact that she was crying. “Why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Ethel started to cry once more.

After she finally regained control, she decided to tell me. “At-At the movies yesterday... None of them could see me, even when I came close you! I’ve lost my friends, Aiden! I’ve lost them...”

“I’ve lost them all...” She let out through all the tears. I didn’t know what to do. I just stood there, watching her cry her eyes out. I left her room. It felt like betrayal.

I did nothing to console her. Nothing. I didn’t enter her room, I didn’t call her to eat, I did nothing. I just sat in my room with a blank mind. Hours passed and I didn’t even notice until I heard faint footsteps outside my door. “Who’s there?” I asked. They disappeared just as soon as they came.

She didn’t come out of her room the next day. Or the day after. I left the food outside her door and decided to stay at home instead of going to school. The house seemed lifeless, as if it hadn’t seen anyone smile in a long time. Without her, everything was bleak. Boring. Useless. It had been two days since she went invisble to her friends. “Lately, she’s been going invisble to everyone. Wait, does that me-” I careered to her room. Without knocking, I jumped in. I took a sigh of relief and headed back downstairs.

She finally came out of her room. I saw her in the living room. She looked perfectly normal, except she didn’t smile. “Hey! You’re looking much better. Breakfast is ready. Want some?” She nodded and sat down. We sat in silence. She seemed like a different person. I couldn’t even talk to her!

I went to school the next day. “Aiden! You’re here? I thought you weren’t going to come back,” he exclaimed. I laughed it off and sat down. Everyone looked at me as if I were new. “Alright class, we have to take a te- Oh? Aiden? You’re here? Where’s Ethel?” My silence gave her the answers she needed. I looked at Ethel’s “Friends”. They looked perfectly normal, like Ethel didn’t exist.

I skipped school. I couldn’t handle it. At home, things seemed dull. “Aiden! Check th-” Ethel tumbled down the stairs with a box in her hand. I laughed as she came crashing down. She made a quick recovery, handed me the box and motioned me to open it. The smug grin on her face triggered every red flag possible. I took a deep breath and hesitantly removed the top. “Surprise! Happy Birthday!” She shouted out while putting on a hat on and trying to put one on me too. “Now, I know you’re wondering how I figured out today was your birthday. I... erm... looked through your phone... It had today marked as ‘birthday’, so I assumed today was yours. I’m sorry that I looked through your phone!” She could barely contain her excitement. Even I forgot today was my birthday The box had a small cake that had been destroyed, probably due to her fall on the stairs. I hid from her so she wouldn’t feel bad seeing it destroyed. “This was unexpected. Thank you, Ethel! This is amazing!”

“We aren’t done yet. Come on, I have something else prepared.” She said, grabbing my hand and leading me upstairs. I peeked inside my room and was horrified by what I saw. My room, my sanctuary, my place to get away from things had been turned into a place with bright colors and balloons. With decorations and lights. My room had been destroyed.

About half an hour later, Ethel was really tired, so she went to sleep. I was left to clean up my destroyed room by myself. I decided to go to sleep and leave my room as it was until tomorrow so she can clean up the mess she created. I was about to lie down when Ethel suddenly barged in. "Oh, you were about to sleep. Don't worry, I'll clean it up quietly. You can sleep," she said as she started to quietly remove the decorations. "I-I'll help!" I jumped in to help.

The next day, Ethel came to school with me. She was back to the Ethel she used to be. We saw our homeroom teacher walking by. "Aiden, you're here today as well. That's new. Anyway, I have a job for you. Take the empty desk next to yours and put it outside the class. It's taking up space."

"But Ethel sits there!"

"Who's that?" Those cursed words. I've heard them too many times. I hated them. "I guess I'm invisible to one more person now. I guess I'll have to sit on the ground now." She laughed it off.

Ethel had to sit on the ground next to me. I didn't want her to sit like that. Why is she even coming to school? No one can see her. No one but me. However, she was happily taking notes. She looked perfectly fine with the way things were.

Ethel was perfectly fine with the way things were, but I wasn’t. Seeing her being treated like this was like torture to me. What can I do? What can I do to stop this torture that’s being inflicted upon her? “Teacher! Ethel would like to say something,” I announced, motioning Ethel to say some. She stood up. All eyes shifted towards her. “I can’t believe you all can see-”

“Aiden, you’ve been at school for too long. Go rest,” Eren said. Damn it!

She smiled and sat back down. The brimming cheerfulness and hope on her face was dyed jet black. I failed yet again. “Aiden! Shush! The teacher is trying to explain! Pay attention,” Ethel scolded. Why is she acting like this? She has nothing to gain from being so stubborn. I’ll leave her be. She’ll lose hope soon enough.

Back at home, I tried to stop Ethel from going to school. “Please, Ethel! Nobody can see you anymore! You have no reason to go. Seeing you- sitting on the ground- I hated seeing that.” She glared at me with dismay, her eyes full of hatred. I couldn’t utter a word. She was about to snap. She stormed out of the living room. I heard her door slam shut. She has never been this rebellious before, so why is she acting like this now? She’s upset about something. I can’t do anything, I guess, I’ll leave her be for the time being.

As usual, Ethel came to school with me. As usual, no one could see her. As usual, she was forced to sit on the ground. However, throughout this torture that has been imposed upon her, she never stopped smiling. I stopped trying to convince her, but I still hadn’t given up.

“Aiden! Now’s your chance. Go talk to Eren,” Ethel said, shoving me towards him. Damn it! I didn’t want to talk this soon, but I’ve got no choice. “Hey, Eren! H-Hey! Long time no see. What’s going on?” I panicked.

“Don’t talk to me during school. People will think I’m crazy as well.” He ran off.

I sat outside with Ethel for the rest of the day. It felt peaceful. A feeling I hadn’t experienced in a long time. We sat in silence, yet it didn’t feel the least bit awkward to me. So people think I’m crazy, huh? It doesn’t really feel new. Oh well, not like I can do anything. I just hope she’ll leave school soon. That’s my main objective. I have to make her leave. But, I don’t think that’s possible anymore. She’s gotten attached to the school, to the teachers, to the students, to the buildings, the classes, and the feeling of being in a learning environment.

Back at home, we were as awkward as usual. We barely spoke. She kept making notes for the classes while I continued procrastinating. Seeing her work that hard just made me realize she was going to continue going to school, despite being her invisible. I lost hope. She wasn't going to listen to me, and she wasn't going to stop going to school. That much was clear. As I mindlessly scrolled through my feed, I saw Ethel standing in the corner of the room. She was scared. "Aiden, I'm sorry for what happened between you and Eren. It was all my fault you tried to help me, and I'm grateful for that, but I think it's time you admit it. I'm i-invisible to everyone. I don't exist to them!" She burst into tears. Her sobs made me hesitant to go and try to help her. She escaped to her room. I really can't do this, huh? I wish it'd all just end.

I woke up late the next day. Luckily, It was a Sunday. I prepared breakfast and set it down on the table. "Ethel, breakfast is ready. Come down and eat," I announced. I heard footsteps coming downstairs. "You should've woken me up. I bet you're hungry, dig- Ethel? Ethel, where are you?" I looked around. Nobody. The room was empty. The footsteps had stopped. I went to her room. "Ethel?" No response. Her things were there. I just shrugged it off and went to eat my breakfast.

I stayed up till midnight for Ethel. She never came. I made constant checks to her room to see if she was there, but she was no where to be found. Please, Ethel, just come back. Please.

A week passed by, but Ethel never came back. No matter how much I prayed, she never came back. Occasionally, I would hear her running around the house, or asking if I needed any help. I would turn around to see the empty, lifeless house, which was once filled with laugher and joy.

The week was tough. I had to deal with the fact that she ran away. I held hope, though. I held hope that she might come back. I wanted to take the week off, but Ethel wouldn’t want me to miss school. I packed my things and stood on the front door. “Ethel! I’m leaving fo- Oh, right.” I headed out, locking the front door behind me.

“Yo, Aiden! What’s up? You seem gloomy, not that you’re ever not gloomy, but you look more... gloomy? I don’t know. What’s wrong?” Eren asked. Didn’t he say he wasn’t gonna talk to me at school? Change of heart, I guess. “I’m fine,” I muttered. He won’t understand my reason. I doubt he remembers Ethel. “You wanna go eat out today?” I nodded. We headed to class. I saw an extra desk next to mine. “New student?” I asked him. “Nah, more like returning student. She’s absent today. You met her before, right? Ethel?”

“Ethel?! Wait, you remember her?! How?! She was invisible to you! That’s you stopped talking to me too, you said I was crazy!” All eyes shifted to me. I made quite the commotion. I started to turn red. I grabbed Eren’s hand and dragged him outside.

“When did Ethel ‘return’? Does everyone know about her? Do you know where she lives?” I threw all my questions out. He looked puzzled.

“Are you feeling okay? Did you hit your head? Ethel? The new student? She came back about a week ago. She lives with you. She took the last month off. You kept pretending that she didn't leave. How do you not remember that?" At that point, I began to think I was going insane. It was overwhelming. They can see her, but I can't? No, it has to be a lie!

I ran back home. As soon as I entered, I yelled out for Ethel. I heard the usual footsteps, but they slowly faded away. Tears filled my eyes as the realization hit me. Ethel was now invisible only to me. I rushed to my room and locked the door. My face flooded with tears. I can't see her anymore. That was the only thing going through my head.

After a good cry, I went to prepare food. I set out food for both of us. Even if I can't see her, I know she's here. I placed her food and called out to her. I didn't hear any footsteps this time. I sat down. "So, Ethel, how are you? been- been a while since we spoke, huh?" I said through tears. "Please, forgive me. I'm sorry for not treating you properly." I didn't touch my food. I couldn't. Not without her.

"Aiden?" A voice called out. I frantically looked for the source. Ethel was there. She came back. I found her. I rushed to hug her. "It's okay now. It's okay. Calm down. I'm back now. I'm back. I won't leave you ever again, I promise!"