I was five years old when my twin sister, Ella, disappeared into the forest behind our childhood home. I remember that day mostly through fragments. I had a fever and was kept in bed while she played outside with her favorite red ball. I could hear the steady rhythm of it bouncing against the wall outside my window. Then, without warning, the sound stopped. Soon after, voices rose in alarm. Rain began to fall. Neighbors and police searched the woods for days, then weeks. Eventually they found only her abandoned toy. My parents told me that Ella had been found...
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