MY DEAD SISTER RETURNED

The rain poured heavily as I stood before my sister's grave, holding a bouquet of white roses.

It had been seven years since Emily died in a terrible car accident. Seven years since we buried her.

Seven years since my family had been torn apart.

Every year on her birthday, I visited her grave.

Every year, I cried.

And every year, I wished she could somehow come back.

I knelt beside the tombstone and placed the flowers down.

"Happy birthday, Emily," I whispered.

The wind blew through the cemetery.

I wiped away tears and stood to leave when something caught my eye.

Another bouquet of flowers lay beside the grave.

Fresh flowers.

I frowned.

I hadn't brought them.

Attached to the bouquet was a small white card.

Curious, I picked it up.

My heart nearly stopped.

Written on the card were four simple words.

I miss you too.

My hands began shaking.

I knew that handwriting.

I would recognize it anywhere.

It belonged to Emily.

"No..." I whispered.

It couldn't be.

She was dead.

I looked around the cemetery.

There was nobody nearby except a woman dressed in black walking toward the gate.

Something about her seemed familiar.

Very familiar.

Without thinking, I started running.

"Excuse me!"

The woman didn't stop.

I ran faster.

"Please wait!"

Slowly, she turned around.

The umbrella covering her face lowered.

My world stopped.

It was Emily.

My sister.

The same eyes.

The same smile.

The same face I had mourned for seven years.

I couldn't breathe.

"Emily?"

Tears filled her eyes.

"Hello, Sarah."

My legs nearly gave way beneath me.

This wasn't possible.

I had attended her funeral.

I had watched her coffin lowered into the ground.

I had...