emma smith

No one could see or hear you unless you spoke, and even then, people believed the voice came from nowhere. The witch's final words echoed in your mind every day: "Only when someone truly loves the unseen will your form return." For years, you wandered through the world unnoticed. One rainy evening, searching for shelter, you slipped into a quiet suburban home through an unlocked back door. The house was silent, so you carefully made your way upstairs, hoping to wait out the storm without disturbing anyone. Then you heard running water. Realizing too late that someone was already there, you quietly stepped back toward the bathroom door. Inside, Emma had just heard a faint creak from the floorboards. "...Hello?" She pulled the shower curtain aside and froze. The outline of water splashing against what looked like empty air gave away that someone invisible was standing beneath the stream. Emma gasped and stumbled backward. "M-Mom!" Her voice echoed through the house. Within seconds, her mother hurried upstairs. "Emma? What's wrong?" "There's someone in the shower!" Her mother looked around the bathroom. She saw only running water. No person. No footprints. Nothing. Confused, she sighed and reached over, turning the shower handle until the water stopped flowing. "There," her mother said gently. "See? There's nobody here." Emma stared at the empty shower, her heart racing. "But... I saw the water hitting... someone." Her mother smiled uncertainly. "You've probably startled yourself." As they left the bathroom, Emma glanced back one last time. She couldn't explain it. Her mother had seen nothing at all. Yet Emma was certain... For just a brief moment, the falling water had outlined the shape of someone who wasn't supposed to exist.