“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqk5GDLrON
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3jDpO6PKpy
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDEeU8dlUwt
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiaMu1A5feF
“One for the master and one for the dame.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEDWc2eubHg
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHeJn8ybPu4
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN60Cj719wk
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwMvTqRYqt
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlwdmFd1xP
Green eyes close, and so do his.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfEBFKzwKam
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwf2Fgz0jZd
641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡih0FMCeSRV
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.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX0jPrEXDqh
“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.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡePG0LhNRWd
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXXLhrh3Pi
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhvbfRfw4a0
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwdlHL3vwo
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAwnDmBeoYc
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKotHZwyLIG
641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡthAmeaaNHI
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. 641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2Uy3cZVXZ
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlpIN1Ubc89
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw39gAsDECC
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡooqn3OTmk8
His mother pauses for a short bit.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXssO2L0fLV
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHOWXiR9iQ
“When did I fall?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tVV0qLGNy
“About two weeks ago.”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQWYxulnsmJ
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFgYVQ77Wju
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgtb8oafmFY
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgXAIhJyoVc
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.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObLQZdEhgJ
641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRv7Q0DIXaj
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. 641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NIPosywRM
641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMdEuJ8Vmj
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.641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2tnwIq3n2
641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAHyTdMuJW
641Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0Lf2eKWvi
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