“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh0S5VdQuzC
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLC2ar5gq2
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXmErBDUkFH
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGpsSOrqzK
“One for the master and one for the dame.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmM8159yE2v
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIZJi2hPykm
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCGMBJtYJvB
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUUiQNDEhPM
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpW8OZQCp9
Green eyes close, and so do his.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXMqOUBPEBU
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgSfvou8TB4
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKvUpXArsin
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡItUT5XZstm
“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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4MhDsJnh6
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBiVpIOmb8
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjjJ2w6Jmj
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh6Z9qbmS0V
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU54Rm1ryys
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbAlfhgbWo
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEHp88NACy
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. 559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2eb9PaCMc
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgh5RszlSx
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjTDEyELiMo
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3G5JBnQwLF
His mother pauses for a short bit.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowCdGVruaW
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEPE6DyLyRd
“When did I fall?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb0K5Y9bmNo
“About two weeks ago.”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsIuTXK2QX
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbCDyB5hk2f
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE5vJjwq8kJ
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntWIiQj57K
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRxmu8Lr9D
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQ6rPMShDG
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. 559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzUan0DETG
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqvQVkiWi5
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.559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjj0vjk64p
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPBBLRc6Ch
559Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIV0DrBuGe
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