C.E. Phillippi

If you have ever lived in an old house and felt the air change when you walked into a room… If you have ever heard soft footsteps upstairs when everyone else was asleep… If you have ever glimpsed a shadow where no shadow should be, you may already know me.

I have been here longer than anyone remembers. Long before the Edwards family arrived from Washington. Long before the river changed its path. Long before the walls sagged and the forest swallowed the trail to the back shed.

They call me the girl in the blue dress.

It is the same dress I wore on my last birthday. The white apron, the tiny blue flowers, and the ribbons that were still tied around my braids. Mama brushed my hair that morning and told me I looked “real pretty.” Those are the last kind words I remember.

I never meant to stay here after my life ended. I never chose it. Some things keep you. Some things hold you. Some things trap you in walls that remember more than they should.

And I have been waiting, watching, and wanting for some time.