She Saw Something in the Mirror. Hours Later, I Found Someone Wearing My Dress (2 of 5)

My six-year-old daughter just sat there in the back seat, eyes distant, watching the trees blur by. A bead of sweat clung to her upper lip. Her mouth hung slightly open like she was trying to taste the air.

Then, without turning her head, she whispered:
“The lady in the tree told me not to go home.”

I glanced at her in the mirror.

“What lady, sweetheart?”

She blinked. Slowly.

“The one behind the glass.”

I turned in my seat. “What glass?”

She twisted the hem of her dress into tight spirals. Her voice dropped again.

“The mirror in your bathroom.”

Something cold slipped into my chest.

We’d left the house maybe 40 minutes earlier. I’d been rushing, stuffing clothes into a duffel while she sat on the hallway floor, quietly coloring. Right across from the bathroom.