[ WP ] `` Hey , remember me ? We used to be friends ! Well , you told yourself and everyone that I was 'imaginary ' ... Well , how have you been ? ''

“ Hey, remember me? ” 
 
 I twisted around in my seat. Was someone speaking? I lifted one side of my headphones. “ Hello? ” I was pretty sure I had the house to myself, even with the headphones, I could usually tell when my housemates came home. Nothing. 
 
 I went back to the music and my latest project, dismissing the incident. 
 
 -- -- - 
 
 I was half zoned-out, folding laundry in front of the TV, when I heard that voice again. “ After all these years, is this really how you ’ re going to be? ” I looked up sharply, but the voice was from the side, not from the speakers. The credits were rolling anyway, it couldn ’ t have been my show. 
 
 I added another t-shirt to the pile. Hearing things, not good. I had an appointment next week, but maybe I could talk to my doctor on the phone. I felt fairly certain that this was stress, and tried a few relaxing techniques. 
 
 “ Really? You ’ re just going to shutter me off and forget about me again, aren ’ t you? Dang it Cindy, I thought I meant something to you! ” 
 
 I dumped the unmatched socks off my lap when I stood. “ Okay, if you ’ ve got a speaker in here, you ’ ve probably got a microphone. Cut it out! ” I twisted around, trying to figure out where the speaker was hidden. To be that loud, it couldn ’ t be too small, right? “ Or … keep talking so I can find it! ” 
 
 I turned the living room upside-down and found no sign of the speakers, or a microphone. The voice didn ’ t come back. 
 
 I stopped staying at the house by myself, finding excuses to stay at the library or spending hours with a cup of coffee and a book at the café. My therapist couldn ’ t determine a cause and we discussed medication options. But before that, we went back to the notion that this was some sort of prank—I got my boyfriend to help me search for any possible bugs or microphones. He offered to move in with me, but there really wasn ’ t space for another adult in that house. 
 
 -- -- - 
 
 “ Okay, so it seems pretty clear that I ’ m going about this all wrong. ” The voice came at night, while I was half-asleep. I jolted upright, pushing aside my blankets. “ Cindy, it ’ s me, Bunny. Please, don ’ t you remember me? ” 
 
 “ Bunny? ” I peered into the darkness. Why was that name familiar? 
 
 “ Yes. We were best friends, and then when you learned other people couldn ’ t see me … well, you said I was imaginary, and I believed it. I believed it and I went away. Your parents forgot about me. But I ’ m not imaginary. I ’ m real! So I ’ m back. I wanted to see if you remembered me. ” 
 
 Back from where? I clutched my blankets and tried to settle my breathing. 
 
 “ Back from all sorts of places. We used to talk about wanting to see the world. I did. It ’ s not like people can stop me from getting on planes, nobody else could see me. ” I felt a weight settle at the foot of my bed, I could see a shadowy figure as I remembered my best friend, as I remembered the adventures Bunny and I used to have. 
 
 “ But it ’ s boring, being by myself, ” she continued. “ I saw neat things, but couldn ’ t talk about them with anyone. I can follow people, but I can ’ t touch anything, I can ’ t do anything. And I missed my friend. I missed *being* a friend. So I came back, because I want that again. I want you to believe in me. I believe in you, Cindy. ” 
 
 “ Bunny … ” I could picture her face in my memory. The little girl, so much like me, but better. She sounded older now, and the image in my head gradually morphed into a Bunny around my own age. 
 
 “ There you go. You *do* remember. I ’ ve been watching you, but not as much as I ’ d like. How have you been? What are you doing with yourself lately? Maybe … maybe we can be friends again? ” 

