Mark walked through the front door of his large house after a long day at the office.
He set his heavy briefcase down on the polished light-wood floor near the main entrance.
The sun lit up the bright white hallway and cast soft shadows across the walls.
His wife Sarah was standing near the kitchen counter while quietly checking her phone.
Mark noticed his three-year-old daughter Emily carrying a small white plate down the hallway.
The plate held two tiny turkey sandwiches cut neatly into triangles.
Mark smiled as he watched his young daughter step carefully around the hallway rug.
He assumed she was playing a game with her stuffed animals in the living room.
Emily did not stop near the couch or head toward her play area.
She walked straight to the blank white wall at the end of the long corridor.
Mark paused near the doorway to watch where the little girl was going.
Emily knelt down gently on the floor next to the decorative wall trim.
She placed the plate of sandwiches right against the bottom edge of the drywall.
Mark raised his eyebrows in confusion as he stepped closer to his daughter.
Mark: Emily, sweetheart, what are you doing with those plates?
Emily turned around and looked up at her father with big clear eyes.
Emily: She said she wanted lunch today.
Mark frowned slightly as he looked at the empty white wall.
Mark: Who wanted lunch, honey?
Emily: The girl who lives inside the dark space.
Sarah walked over from the kitchen while wiping her hands on a cloth.
Sarah: She has been talking to imaginary friends all morning, Mark.
Mark looked back down at the base of the bright white wall.
He saw a faint crack along the wooden baseboard that he had never noticed before.