Chapter 24
“Hi,” I replied. “Is… is this real?”
A smile flickered on her lips before dying. “As real as anything.” Her voice was light and breathy, each word clear, without any distortion. From where I was standing I could see the delicate hairs of her eyelashes, the flecks of her freckles. Something about her eyes, I noticed, belied her youth, like an older woman was staring out at me from within.
This had to be the real Melissa. My slumbering mind couldn’t craft an image this detailed—could it? “I could be imagining you right now,” I said, backing away. “This could be me imagining you talking to me in my dream, saying this is real. All this detail…” I waved an arm at her. “It could all be some brain trick.”
She turned away and took a few ambling steps toward a towering, shadowy oak t
