“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”368Please respect copyright.PENANAr9NI2NLh7Q
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.368Please respect copyright.PENANAr2fjleJsxp
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”368Please respect copyright.PENANACrv2DIanSb
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.368Please respect copyright.PENANASIE1znBJzt
“One for the master and one for the dame.”368Please respect copyright.PENANAj6Mpd5hcDs
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.368Please respect copyright.PENANAGj75La49uP
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”368Please respect copyright.PENANALZHcBdhr0L
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.368Please respect copyright.PENANAlijyDNLRLI
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”368Please respect copyright.PENANABXWYVxoqEP
Green eyes close, and so do his.368Please respect copyright.PENANAMOYm4ko1vh
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”368Please respect copyright.PENANA179MCkRXjf
368Please respect copyright.PENANA9YA1LRLpOW
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.368Please respect copyright.PENANAIAAACpwyzB
“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.368Please respect copyright.PENANAUHfeqrEVKQ
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”368Please respect copyright.PENANAXApbpAc1jN
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”368Please respect copyright.PENANAkbiJ8cz1uF
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”368Please respect copyright.PENANAWYHCSXAfOH
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”368Please respect copyright.PENANALr22EOVr0F
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.368Please respect copyright.PENANA1WqAYDU6a7
368Please respect copyright.PENANAOXVuIQQP2d
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. 368Please respect copyright.PENANASgv07KDsbD
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.368Please respect copyright.PENANAVprDKjrL4s
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.368Please respect copyright.PENANArcRXL7abHm
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 368Please respect copyright.PENANA1EdE6uh3M2
His mother pauses for a short bit.368Please respect copyright.PENANA5BUZfSN6ba
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”368Please respect copyright.PENANAnjpreFzT85
“When did I fall?”368Please respect copyright.PENANAeicU8uswEQ
“About two weeks ago.”368Please respect copyright.PENANAWwxjyXfPyZ
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”368Please respect copyright.PENANAEBb8AvbsNo
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”368Please respect copyright.PENANAmPeucfB5SZ
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.368Please respect copyright.PENANAW9MBQMQljW
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.368Please respect copyright.PENANAoikv5XUYXt
368Please respect copyright.PENANAlYCHSc9zy9
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. 368Please respect copyright.PENANAGXD7UKytfJ
368Please respect copyright.PENANAbR3E4dP2py
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.368Please respect copyright.PENANASIo6GLc2BI
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368Please respect copyright.PENANACaEs7Ok6U8