He didn’t laugh.
He didn’t say I was imagining things.
He went pale.
Then he picked up the phone and hung it up.
“It’s a scam,” he said quickly. “AI voice cloning. People can fake anything now. Don’t go.”
But his voice wasn’t calm.
It was scared.
When I grabbed my keys, he stepped in front of the door.
“You can’t go,” he said. “Please.”
“Please what, Neil?” I snapped. “She’s dead. Why are you afraid of a ghost… unless she isn’t one?”
He didn’t answer.
I pushed past him and left.
The drive is a blur. I don’t remember traffic lights or turns. Just the feeling that if I didn’t get there fast enough, she would disappear again.
I ran into the school.
“She’s in the principal’s office,” the receptionist said quietly.
I didn’t knock.
I opened the door.
And everything inside me stopped.
She was sitting there.
Older. Thinner.
But it was her.
“Mom?” she whispered.
I dropped to my knees and pulled her into my arms.
She was warm.
Real.
Alive.
“My baby,” I cried. “I thought you were gone.”
She held onto me like she was afraid I’d vanish.
“Why didn’t you come for me?” she asked.
I froze.
