"Everyone in the neighborhood knows what a well-behaved and sensible little girl she was. Clara was always so polite and sweet. Everyone liked her."
"Yes, the whole family adored her. Now that she’s gone… how are they supposed to go on?"
"What a tragedy. How could such a healthy child suddenly drown like that?"
While the crowd murmured, a police officer approached me, holding a surveillance tablet in his hands.
"We reviewed the footage from nearby cameras. It shows you bringing the deceased child to this pond, pushing her in and holding her underwater until she drowned."
"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"
As he spoke, he tapped the screen and began to play the footage for everyone to see.
The video clearly showed me leading my daughter to the pond, dragging her into the water and forcing her down until she stopped moving.
Gasps instantly rose from the crowd.
All eyes turned to me.
Shocked. Furious. Disgusted.
I stood frozen, staring at the footage of a version of myself doing something I had never done.
Everyone stared at me as if they wished to cut me apart right there.
This was exactly like the previous life.