Lila was born alone, but she wasn’t supposed to be. Her identical twin, Sophie, died in the womb just a week before birth.

Doctors warned her mother about “vanishing twin syndrome,” but Lila didn’t vanish—she came into the world wide-eyed and strong. From an early age, she would speak of a friend no one could see. “Her name is Sophie,” she’d say.

At first, her parents thought it was imagination. But Lila always set an extra plate, drew two girls in every picture, and even said Sophie helped her with math problems.

A child psychologist suggested it was a way of coping—but Lila insists her sister is there. “She tells me to be brave when I’m scared. I feel her.”

At 10, Lila wrote a poem titled Half of Me, All of Her. It ended with: “We never said hello, but we’ll never say goodbye.”