“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”398Please respect copyright.PENANAFRJ2ZXnKBp
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.398Please respect copyright.PENANA3ugzAaAPEY
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”398Please respect copyright.PENANA5O2zhcrhHO
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.398Please respect copyright.PENANAmeBxw2H11S
“One for the master and one for the dame.”398Please respect copyright.PENANAyltBmCg2v0
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.398Please respect copyright.PENANA4AXL5VFj0G
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”398Please respect copyright.PENANAq16JUnhhQr
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.398Please respect copyright.PENANACcq8bFvt2T
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”398Please respect copyright.PENANAPNuFtAaWvl
Green eyes close, and so do his.398Please respect copyright.PENANABU2agaoMvz
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”398Please respect copyright.PENANAmobatGx8QY
398Please respect copyright.PENANAUMZYg2GcJc
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.398Please respect copyright.PENANA6fWlk5HzzN
“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.398Please respect copyright.PENANAtSEbILHkJI
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”398Please respect copyright.PENANAOvPuXEZhF0
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”398Please respect copyright.PENANA9iGR0Tdnu2
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”398Please respect copyright.PENANA7Mw9xPBB9F
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”398Please respect copyright.PENANAynjeASVrDV
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.398Please respect copyright.PENANAtSC2AN84aA
398Please respect copyright.PENANAujauYo3qTI
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. 398Please respect copyright.PENANANwQ1fRuURf
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.398Please respect copyright.PENANAUi4Jpj6o2y
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.398Please respect copyright.PENANAfjonUGVfGR
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 398Please respect copyright.PENANAsGsqvFygTk
His mother pauses for a short bit.398Please respect copyright.PENANAWVpVIigaZN
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”398Please respect copyright.PENANAvdesGMbBTA
“When did I fall?”398Please respect copyright.PENANABkPVJSLiSO
“About two weeks ago.”398Please respect copyright.PENANAOc8mTxuyNY
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”398Please respect copyright.PENANApBimCmnnsF
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”398Please respect copyright.PENANASpmneWiFp3
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.398Please respect copyright.PENANAv4JRz9ObHh
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.398Please respect copyright.PENANASdNfwHsif0
398Please respect copyright.PENANAdjBBAhlTKe
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. 398Please respect copyright.PENANAEk6RpGNqRz
398Please respect copyright.PENANAJLFw6d5apQ
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.398Please respect copyright.PENANAeD6ioJVWs4
398Please respect copyright.PENANAcGWVfl9HT6
398Please respect copyright.PENANAkzTdyGLcMC