I pushed the charred curtain out of the way as I stepped outside. The ground was blackened with the ash of everything that was destroyed. Bones littered the ground. Smoke filled the air. My parents and I were one of the only lucky families. We had somehow survived.

I scanned the barren wasteland for a sign. Maybe there was someone alive out there, stumbling through the rubble for shelter. I went around my usual route. I went sixty steps forward, then went to the right thirty steps. I turned right again and went sixty steps. I repeated that until I got back to where I started. I kept searching along the way. I never allowed myself to go even an inch more than sixty steps away from my home. It was the same thing every day. As mom and dad scoured the earth for food, I looked for people to help. It has only been two weeks since the attack, but I had already fallen into routine.

That took up the entire morning. After that, I would go inside the small hut. It had been hastily rebuilt, but was only a very small fraction of the house it once was. It only had two rooms. I would help my parents serve lunch and we would eat. Halfway through the meal, my parents would go to find more food and search for people twice as far away from the house as I would in the morning. I was supposed to stay inside until the sun had covered two thirds of the sky. Since I usually had a while before then, I would go to the other room, where the bed was, and think about my sister. She had been killed in the attack.

I had managed to salvage a small notebook I had. It was mostly empty, so I had been filling it with sketches and thoughts. I flipped through some memories, sighed, and put the book under my pillow again. I peeked out of the hole in the wall (I like to think of it as a window) and saw that the sun had made it two thirds across the sky. I exited the house to search some more.

Usually we didn’t find anyone. Today, though, I thought I saw a silhouette. I squinted. It was just smoke. I sighed. Every single day was always boring. Nothing would happen, yet we were still battling to stay alive.

By the time my parents came inside, it was almost dark. We rested a little. We were grateful that we were alive. We just sat together on the bed, drinking in the fact that we were all together. For now.

After a little while, we went to sleep. I was tired of walking outside in the sweltering heat, trying to find someone.

The next day, everything was the same as usual. But I kept feeling like I saw the same silhouette. The same happened the day after that. And the next.

Finally, on the seventh day, I approached the figure. It couldn’t have been a coincidence. It surely wasn’t just smoke. I slowly started to make out the details.

The figure was floating, but it looked just like my sister. Though it was coated in ash and shrouded in the smoke, it had the same dark skin, the same curly, chocolate colored hair. The same soft eyes. The same warm smile. When it— she— talked, she had the same voice.

“Ella,” said the figure. I knew it was my sister. Somehow. But I knew she was gone. I saw her with my own eyes. So how could she be here?

“I’m not really here. Just an illusion,” whispered my sister. Nelly. It had only been three weeks, but it felt like such a long time. It felt as if we had been apart for an eternity.

“Then . . . What are you?”

“A memory,” said Nelly. “Nothing more. Just a memory.”

“But—” my voice broke. “Why are you here, then, if you’re only going to leave me again?”

“I never got to say goodbye.” Nelly whispered. She sounded heartbroken. “So I came to do so.”

“But . . . What about our parents?”

Nelly’s eyes widened. “No.” Her voice became hoarse. “You can’t tell anyone. I’ve broken the laws of life and death itself.”

“I— I miss you.” I said, tears slipping out of my eyes.

“I miss you too. Goodbye,” said Nelly softly. She slowly disappeared.

I suddenly realized that it was dark. I was late. I had wandered away from the sixty step limit. I started to panic. I whipped my head around in search of my house. Luckily I saw it in the distance. I ran towards it as if nothing else mattered.

When I finally entered the house out of breath, my parents were inside. They looked worried out of their minds. They were clearly about to go look for me.

“Oh, Ella!” cried Mom. “I was so worried!” She swept me into a hug. Dad squeezed me until I could barely breathe.

“Where were you?”

“I— uh, I guess I didn't notice the time,” I lied. I remembered how Nelly had said that no one could know. I hugged my parents tightly and didn’t let go.