The police told my parents my twin sister had died — 68 years later, I met a woman who LOOKED EXACTLY LIKE ME. I was five years old when my twin, Ella, disappeared. That day, my parents were at work, and my sister and I were staying with our grandmother. I became very sick, and she took care of me until I fell asleep. While I was sleeping, Ella ran outside to play with her ball. Later, when our grandmother went outside to call Ella back into the house, there was no answer — only silence. We lived near a forest, and that was where they found only her ball. The police searched for Ella for a long time, and only a few months later, they told my parents that she had been found dead. Even though I was very young, she had already become my entire world. We shared toys, tried on our mother’s dresses, and never fought. I don’t remember many details. I kept asking my mom what had happened to Ella — where she was found, when it happened, and how. My mother brushed me off and said I didn’t need to know those details, and that I was hurting her by constantly asking about Ella. So I stopped. There was no funeral. Or rather, I don’t remember one. Sixty-eight years have passed since that day. I built my own family, and at first glance, my life seemed wonderful. But thoughts of Ella never left me. My granddaughter was recently accepted into a college in another state. I decided to visit her, so I flew out for a couple of days. One morning, while my granddaughter was in class, I decided to go for a walk. I walked into a small, cozy local café and stood in line for coffee. Suddenly, I heard a woman’s voice — a voice that sounded like mine. A woman was standing at the counter, picking up her coffee to go. She turned around, and my blood ran cold. She looked exactly like me — the same voice, the same face, the same age. It was as if I were looking at MYSELF in a mirror. I thought I was about to faint. How was this even possible?! I couldn’t just stand there, so I tapped the woman on the shoulder. She turned around, looked at me — and it was clear she was just as shocked as I was. My voice broke as I asked: “OH MY GOD… ELLA?!”

When I was five, my twin sister walked into the trees behind our house and never came back. The police told my parents her body was found, but I never saw a grave, never saw a coffin. Just decades of silence and a feeling that the story wasn’t really over.

I’m Dorothy, 73, and my life has always had a missing piece shaped like a little girl named Ella.

Ella was my twin. We were five when she disappeared.

Ella was in the corner with her red ball.

We weren’t just “born on the same day” twins. We were share-a-bed, share-a-brain twins. If she cried, I cried. If I laughed, she laughed louder. She was the brave one. I followed.

The day she vanished, our parents were at work, and we were staying with our grandmother.

I was sick. Feverish, throat on fire. Grandma sat on the edge of my bed with a cool washcloth.

“Just rest, baby,” she said. “Ella will play quietly.”

Ella was in the corner with her red ball, bouncing it against the wall, humming. I remember the soft thump, the sound of rain starting outside.

When I woke up, the house was wrong.

Then nothing.

I fell asleep.

When I woke up, the house was wrong.

Too quiet.

No ball. No humming.

“Grandma?” I called.

No answer.

She rushed in, hair mussed, face tight.

“Where’s Ella?” I asked.

“She’s probably outside,” she said. “You stay in bed, all right?”

Her voice shook.

I heard the back door open.

“Ella!” Grandma called.

Then the police came.

No answer.

“Ella, you get in here right now!”

Her voice climbed. Then footsteps, fast and frantic.

I got out of bed. The hallway felt cold. By the time I reached the front room, neighbors were at the door. Mr. Frank knelt in front of me.

“Have you seen your sister, sweetheart?” he asked.

I shook my head.

“Did she talk to strangers?”

Then the police came.

Blue jackets, wet boots, radios crackling. Questions I didn’t know how to answer.

“What was she wearing?”

“Where did she like to play?”

“Did she talk to strangers?”

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