\u2026But what I saw at the bottom stopped me in my tracks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The basement was not empty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the far corner stood a recliner \u2014 old, worn, and pointed toward a dusty TV set that flickered static. Around it were toys, half-open books, and a small side table with juice boxes on it. Someone had clearly been spending time<\/em> down here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGirls\u2026\u201d I whispered, my voice trembling. \u201cWho set all this up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe did,\u201d Sophie said proudly. \u201cIt\u2019s Daddy\u2019s space. We keep it nice for him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Mia chimed in, \u201cWe talk to him and tell him about school. He listens. Sometimes he moves the toys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I felt cold all over. It didn\u2019t feel like a game. It felt\u2026 real. Too real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I checked every inch of that basement. No hidden doors. No intruders. No physical signs of anyone living there. And yet \u2014 the girls insisted. Day after day, they spoke to \u201cDaddy.\u201d Left drawings for him. One morning, I found a crayon-scribbled note under my pillow: He\u2019s happy you\u2019re here. Just be quiet at night.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I finally confronted Rachel again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She went pale. \u201cThey used to come down here and cry after he died. They missed him so much\u2026 I think their minds created a way to keep him close.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDo you believe it?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n She didn\u2019t answer. Just stared at the basement door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That night, long after everyone was asleep, I crept downstairs once more. The air felt heavier. As I reached the bottom step, the TV snapped on \u2014 static, just like before. I hadn\u2019t touched the remote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And on the screen, in the middle of the white noise, appeared a faint outline \u2014 a man\u2019s figure, sitting in a recliner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I haven\u2019t been down there since.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u2026But what I saw at the bottom stopped me in my tracks. The basement was not empty. In the far corner stood a recliner \u2014 old, worn,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5156"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5157,"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5156\/revisions\/5157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yxnews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}