1st Aug 2025
One sunny afternoon, my little brother Max was playing in the living room. He was laughing and chatting away to someone named Daniel. "Look, Daniel! I can build the tallest tower with these blocks!" he exclaimed, with his eyes sparkling with joy. At first, I just thought it was cute, imagining Max having an imaginary friend. But then, things started to take a strange turn.
One night, I woke up to faint whispers coming from Max’s room. I could hear two voices. Max's was high and cheerful, but the other was low and deep, too deep for a child. I opened the door quietly, my heart racing, but there was no one there. When I turned to Max, he looked up at me with wide eyes and said, "Daniel doesn’t like you." I laughed nervously, but later that night, I saw a shadow at the end of the hall. The next morning, Max told me, "Daniel said he wanted to see where you sleep." My heart sank.
The next day, I decided to ask Max more about Daniel. "What's he like, this Daniel?" I inquired, trying to sound as casual as possible. Max thought for a moment, tilting his head to the side. "He's funny, and he knows a lot of things," Max replied, "but sometimes he gets mad when you don't listen to him." I felt a shiver run down my spine as Max continued, "He says he doesn't like people who don't believe he's real." I forced a smile, telling Max that it was important to be kind to everyone, even imaginary friends.
Later that evening, I brought it up with Mom, expecting her to chuckle at the idea of Max's mystical new pal. Instead, she frowned slightly, pressing her lips together. "When I was Max's age, I had an imaginary friend too," she confessed softly, stirring her tea. "Her name was Lily, and I remember her being very real to me." It was the first time I'd heard this story, and suddenly, the idea of Max's friend didn't seem quite so far-fetched.
That night, as I lay in bed, I heard Max giggling again, but this time, I wasn't scared. I took a deep breath and whispered into the darkness, "Hi, Daniel, I hope we can be friends too." There was a pause, and then a soft, almost imperceptible whisper answered back, "Maybe." My heart raced, but I felt a strange warmth settle over me. Perhaps imaginary friends weren’t so imaginary after all.
