When She Was a Child: A Psychological Horror Novel of Childhood Trauma, Haunting Memories, and Ancient Myth

Every time Ella thinks about the past, it feels like a dream she's not sure she ever woke from.
When she was a child, it was always the two of them: Ella and Michael, Michael and Ella. Twins. Soulmates. Two halves of a single whole. Best friends against the world.

Until the day Michael vanished without a trace.

Twelve years later, Ella begins dreaming again-of what might have happened back then. Of the black beach with its waves crashing over diamonds of ice. Of Michael's voice calling from somewhere just out of reach. Each dream leaves behind a strange, bittersweet taste-half memory, half nightmare.

Now an adult, Ella lives a life that doesn't feel like hers. A life of pretense, without a past, carefully designed to keep her safe from pain. But every night, she wakes in terror, soaked in sweat, haunted by the image of Michael alone on that frozen shore. She knows something is missing. She knows she is not whole.

Drawn back into the surreal dreamscape of her childhood, Ella begins a desperate search for answers. What happened to Michael? Why did her cold, distant mother never speak of that day? And who-or what-is the ancient trickster who watches her from the shadows of that other world?

When She Was a Child is a chilling psychological horror novel blending childhood trauma, mythological horror, and surreal dreamscapes. Equal parts emotional thriller and mythic fantasy, it explores the invisible wounds of toxic families, the fragile boundaries of memory, and the terrifying beauty of a world beyond reason.