March 8, 2023

My Little Sister Was Afraid of the Dark

March 8, 2023

When my little sister disappeared in the woods, I knew it was my fault. When her body was found, my grief was complicated by a mix of guilt and shame. A deep sadness that didn’t even allow me to cry. And I knew that’s why she was haunting me. I deserved it. I would wake in the night and see her there, huddled beside me on the bed. “I’m scared Sarah. It’s so dark.” Just long enough for me to see her tear-stained face shining in the night light I had started using. Then she was gone. She was only five, and she would be five forever.

January 18, 2020

Lisa Philipson

The Bus

January 18, 2020

Lisa Philipson

Sometimes I wake in the night, the
feeling of hands on my long hair, gently braiding. At those times, I sit up and
think I see a young girl in the corner of my room, eyes shining, smile bright
but sad. She fades until I no longer even see a suggestion of her shape. I cry
then, even all these years later.

March 4, 2018

Lisa Philipson

My Brother Died in the Hospital

March 4, 2018

Lisa Philipson

When I was 12, my brother died in the hospital. I didn’t get to see him to say goodbye. I was told he would be fine, but the adults in my life really didn’t want me to see him because he was hooked up to so many tubes, wires and machines, and they thought it would upset me. It would have, I’m sure, but it upset me more to have him slip away, unseen, with no closure.