This is something that happened to me in the fall when I was in third grade.

That autumn, a holiday lined up with the weekend to create a short long weekend, so my parents, my classmate and best friend S, and I—four of us in total—went on an overnight camping trip. Back then, outdoor recreation wasn't as popular as it is now, so there were no other visitors at the campsite in the mountains where my parents took us. It felt a little lonely, but we were kids in the prime of our playing years. We ran around the adjacent riverbed and thoroughly enjoyed the nighttime barbecue. Right before bed, S—who was usually pretty cocky—got homesick and started crying to go home. My parents and I managed to soothe him, and the trip wrapped up without incident the next morning before we headed back home.

The issue arose early the next morning after we returned. The house phone rang at the crack of dawn, while it was still dimly lit outside. Back then, our home phone wasn't equipped with caller ID, so I had no idea who was calling. My parents were tired from the trip and fast asleep, showing no signs of waking up. I was still half-asleep myself, but the phone rang so relentlessly that I picked up the receiver and said, "Hello?"

"Oh! Good morning, [My Name]!"

The voice on the phone belonged to a lively-sounding girl who seemed to be around my age. However, I couldn't tell who it was from her voice, and I couldn't think of any girl among my classmates who would be calling my house.

"Camping yesterday was so much fun! Oh, the shrimp at the barbecue last night was delicious! By the way, S acts so cocky usually, but getting homesick at night? That was seriously hilarious!"

She rambled on, telling me every little detail about the previous day's camping trip. As my sleep-addled mind cleared, I gradually started to get scared. There were only four people there: me, my parents, and S. How on earth did she know all that?

"Um, who are you? How do you know that?" "Huh? It's me. Don't you know?"

"Sorry, I just woke up, so my brain isn't working yet."

I apologized honestly and asked who she was. After a brief silence...

"Even though I was with you the whole time..."

She muttered those words softly, and the line went dead.

I was frightened, but I quickly assumed it was a prank by S or someone S had told, so I called S right away. However, S hadn't told anyone about the trip besides his parents, and he was too embarrassed to tell even his own parents about getting homesick. When my parents woke up, I asked them as well, but they hadn't mentioned the trip to anyone either.

In the end, it was written off as a prank call, but who was the person on the phone? How did she know about the camping trip that only my parents, S, and I knew about? And those final words... To this day, I can't forget them.