That's when I realize that whatever happened to Shanna, she must not remember any of it.

Just as I'd experienced when I'd returned after disappearing a year ago with no memory of where I'd been, Shanna had no idea what had happened to her. But while I'd only lost the memory of a single night, my sister had lost an entire year.

"Shanna." I try to explain this calmly. "You've been gone. You've been missing. No one's seen you for a year. And now somehow you're just here in your bed all the sudden, and I have no idea how."

I can tell that Shanna knows I'm not joking, but she doesn't believe me either. She shakes her head slowly. "No. What are you talking about? Look, Celeste, that's not possible."

"Look at yourself! You've lost so much weight, there's nothing left of you!" I grab the nightgown hanging off her slender shoulders, something she'd never choose to wear herself. It's filthy. "And what are you wearing?" At the same time we both notice that her wrists are scarred and raw.

"Oh my god," Shanna whispers. "What's going on?"

She rushes to the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror.

That's when my mom bursts from her bedroom. She steps into the bathroom almost hesitantly, her hand to her mouth, her eyes locked on my sister. 

Then my mom starts sobbing. "My baby," she says through her tears. She grabs onto Shanna and starts swaying back and forth. "Oh my god. Oh my god. My babys's back. She's home."

My sister looks at me over our mom's shoulder, deeply confused at everything that's happening. "Where's Dad?" she asks.

We do our best to explain everything that's happened since her disappearance. It takes us all morning to convince Shanna that she's been gone for a year.