The Photo Album
My mom sent me a box of old family photos.
I spent the whole evening looking through them.
Birthday parties. Christmas mornings. Summer vacations.
Then I found a picture of my seventh birthday.
There were six kids around the cake.
I recognized everyone except one girl.
She had dark hair, a yellow dress, and the biggest smile.
I sent the photo to my mom.
"Who's the girl in yellow?"
She called me immediately.
"Where did you get that picture?"
I told her it was in the box she'd sent.
She went quiet.
Then she asked, "Do you remember your imaginary friend?"
I laughed.
"Not really. Why?"
"You used to call her Anna. You said she lived in your closet."
I looked at the photo again.
The girl in yellow was standing right beside me.
My mom continued.
"We thought you'd made her up. Until you started leaving food for her."
I asked why she'd kept the picture.
Another long silence.
Then she whispered,
"I didn't. We burned every photo with her in it."
I looked down at the box.
There was a new photo on top.
It showed me opening the box.
Five minutes ago.