“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkrr6xsRpp
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YoEDryBhH
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYN6Cxd7vcq
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4H0bGwApl0
“One for the master and one for the dame.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4CYJyKNsy
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6srqhogFFs
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ijWOE6nnm
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Gf16RoCEi
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9ls9WajdRY
Green eyes close, and so do his.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6kbJHXzH8
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV0I6Ievjsp
678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9rXToStoT
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc6hapjHK1v
“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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhq9LJCY2E0
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxwtV7pYcj
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSfLvCDqjE
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcsNlYXHeFR
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ACuDMbGTN
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgxBqbWpjm
678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMm547qYtaR
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. 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh88zGLTPvK
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUjRvYEbjF
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZB8sSPmeA
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRA9SvNRYyL
His mother pauses for a short bit.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GcXqA4jjb
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0awHscDAw0
“When did I fall?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7tigIkcUDj
“About two weeks ago.”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlMGpv21Lx
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhgk9NRGyZY
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzjL1DwiDIh
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6vTQmb1Mz
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAQCuPXhDFk
678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIxAmEfBir
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. 678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuLzIlvrYg
678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIOZ4dvI4g
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.678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49YaTQ853j
678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzYmP6lYR9U
678Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoyEEAD1um
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