“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdQHGinXtju
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0ri748aDlE
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOKUyf2XVvF
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvW4qzcY764
“One for the master and one for the dame.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QrmfMruwj
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1QIl6yjqF
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡknpswHQie8
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmmQl8itaq
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYiFo1X5OT
Green eyes close, and so do his.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjT3GcwCJqz
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIut0RaHT6
494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlqyU6t2tJi
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDK27rOz3kL
“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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJhGd6SJZQ
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVXiaTUQqXZ
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlo8j0YrmT0
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrbSqGato5x
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FcOjUyUY1
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntFihquIbW
494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWgo8kcDK4a
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. 494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHHUF2410So
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQEoIdwyfK4
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5snTrD2KU
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxz9LBaAC4V
His mother pauses for a short bit.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeQPw9E5EF
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd1eq19FdOV
“When did I fall?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4jEFOprOc5
“About two weeks ago.”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3JmjD7VEiS
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6J2UpS1hF6
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7ssRQxTz3
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzcIrjR990
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl7T3lVGNGZ
494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0qvkN3uFZ
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. 494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52g8y5c31w
494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnDzD4JckE
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.494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDJJsjlKWq
494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIjiwNx5krs
494Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWtzZ9r7fg
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