Every night at 3:33 a.m., she heard the familiar voice and laughter. 

“Come play.”

She thought it was a recurring dream about her childhood memories filled with fireflies and sidewalk chalk. She sat up in bed and saw the loose floorboard jiggling to break free again. 

“Are you finally ready?”

She pried open the board. She reached down into the darkness.

A warm hand grasped hers.

The world flipped.

She was six again, barefoot, beaming, spinning in sunlight.

Under the floorboards, her older voice whispered, “Thank you.”

She smiled. She had always wanted to return.