“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrIkrZ2htsK
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVmHsZLmjTz
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2BS4RzT4q
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSya641LyTD
“One for the master and one for the dame.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbhfiIfAb0
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzFhQDbzmTU
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyhQm6HaaUF
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwyZ0SyvZO7
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNhL3vwyeUm
Green eyes close, and so do his.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9lFNh5ftEG
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcDO7Da9BYB
533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvnxvvPVFvX
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.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNUK1kHt10u
“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.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Gf0yxeqq4
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFmdYSRcBZd
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ePZycXzAr
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWxfYdWRZGk
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡftEGfXO3fK
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52BeVrs3kU
533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0hCGU761s6
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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhShdRKs5CL
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTqVeNfg3s
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPGk4oklE0
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoRjApc8Gv
His mother pauses for a short bit.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡekTQYcUSW0
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEz6PCx6sE
“When did I fall?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlPIN9lUrd
“About two weeks ago.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI62uhakniG
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0gLJKwoQuy
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOJKAGW26M
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9T5WHqtTk0
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.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr7FbcLZtSD
533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9g6hIpBuxY
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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLGXRhLFDQM
533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NSenn90Rc
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.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMRoQkFQD1Q
533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnHEuMLx6Q6
533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7wFMaSGOL
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