My Family Disappeared in the Bathroom

New Year’s Eve. After dinner, my family and I were all chilling on the couch, watching TV.

Skylar, my sister, said she was going to the bathroom. Half an hour later, she still hadn’t come back.

I went to check. The bathroom was empty.

I asked Mom and Dad, “When did Skylar come out?”

They both froze. “What are you talking about? You’re our only child. Where would you get a sister?”

My mind went blank. Were they playing some kind of twisted prank on me?

A little while later, Dad clutched his stomach and rushed into the bathroom too.

I glued my eyes to the bathroom door. A long time passed. No one came out.

My dad was gone too.

My hand trembled as I pointed at the bathroom. But Mom just started walking towards it.

“Don’t go! Dad and Skylar both vanished in there!”

Mom’s face instantly twisted in grief.

“You don’t have a dad or a sister. Haven’t it just been the two of us for over twenty years?”

I felt like I’d been struck by lightning, frantically trying to explain. But the more I talked, the more confused Mom looked.

She walked straight into the bathroom, and the house fell into a terrifying silence.

I was so scared I could barely speak, so I called Allison, my best friend who lived nearby, for help.

But her words crushed any last hope: “You’re an orphan. Where would you get family?”

I hung up, then sprinted out and hammered on the neighbors’ door.