“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡulN042XFCo
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJuG1Jer81z
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBLa6XaEDc
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7YFevdUQ2
“One for the master and one for the dame.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGhNAtTTBpO
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2sq5hGO7Ow
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqBEEVTn41e
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0KvfBMqMap
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8upOxXIn9v
Green eyes close, and so do his.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVaTAO2HK9g
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwA5KP7o5VV
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0erqosqjTe
The boy wakes with a start. It’s still dark out. He looks at the alarm clock on his nightstand. 3:47, it reads. He wipes the sweat off his forehead and sighs, the adrenaline leaving his body. With caution, he moves his attention to the closet. The closet suddenly looks very cosy to him. It looks safe. This room is too open for him now. He’s exposed. With a start, Zak wraps a blanket around himself, picks up a pillow and crawls to the safety of the closet door. He doesn’t sleep.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcyd7rpILdO
“Zak?” a voice calls outside the closet, “where are you?” The corner of his blanket is sticking out from under the door, catching the voice’s attention. Sunlight floods into the small closet. The voice belongs to mother. She smiles, “What are you doing in here?” Her laugh fills the room.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1JYqFYwSNe
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmuI8lAU3Ag
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhA79fuuR2L
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtPA4CT0d6
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbI9t1Yh2K
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi0r0YNQVzl
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyAkG0VPGpV
Zak sits at the table in the chair closest to the window. Even though the sky is grey and the trees have lost their colour, he can still find beauty in the clearing. He eats his Danish as he watches crows caw and fly off their perches. He remembers the question he had earlier and beckoned his mother, her hands covered in oven mitts. 683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZFqmXO8pIO
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1VdNE2fxI
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKealaTEHbi
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt8fQfHFzw5
His mother pauses for a short bit.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePF7JdJib1
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6RfXfEoDOp
“When did I fall?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡipmsgpR5yD
“About two weeks ago.”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9uXxpiaYVm
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQCBnwOE0ei
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeQPym9epHl
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoPOgBK7D6Q
There’s something wrong in her explanation and he knows it. A fast healer? He can’t believe that. His dreams, his mother’s outburst, the closet? Someone isn’t telling the truth -- and he’s going to figure out why.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ovlsI8tZ3
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs3MRUgf62H
Throughout the week, Zak decides to collect as much information as he can about where he is and pick out the truth in the lies his mother tells him. Every day at breakfast, he asks his mother questions handpicked the night before. They vary from small talk to her and dad to questions designed to make her squirm. A quick look on his dad’s laptop revealed that they are on the edge of Connecticut, the ocean just miles away. The satellite shows that there is a house nearby, and he makes a mental note to investigate soon. 683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPRtmTAOYS
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkFnONCEQ0
On Sunday, Zak lounges on his chair by the window and reads a book he found in one of his drawers. He asked his mother if he’s read it before, and she says it was his favourite. So - wanting to learn more about himself - he dives into the book and soon becomes lost in it. It’s an older book about a group of rabbits leaving their warren in search of a new home. For a book about rabbits, this book is really complex, he thinks. He closes the book and sighs before coming up with a question for the woman next to him.683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSrNPw1Ghe
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIkKJuZn9o9
683Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazWyvm03fQ
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