“Baa Baa black sheep, have you any wool?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWp7tFGwMq
Children’s voices ring through the air. One of them is his own.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT7PR9lJe3b
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQsIohuBIBR
Songs turn to screams. There’s fire in his veins.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt6teVOgZYG
“One for the master and one for the dame.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZllnL2cfhE
Green eyes fill with tears. The closet door closes us in.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqtG1NCYCrY
“One for the little boy who lives down the lane.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRsf4yC1xmN
The door opens again. Hands grabbing at his waist.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY50wxIu4tE
“Baa baa black sheep, have you any wool?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY7Q6tSw5qi
Green eyes close, and so do his.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmI12lmYXKF
“Yes sir, yes sir, three bags full.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdbxyHpDUf
663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnTyStFg7w
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.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhlIpfpyfHf
“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.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEoknSi62Y
Zak mumbles, “I just had a dream.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNObJNlKM6J
“Why did it make this little closet so appealing?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCPLivjIDD4
He rubs the sleep out of his eyes, “I’m safe in here. That’s what it feels like at least.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0116CgcJIn
“Interesting choice,” she sighs, “I bought Danish, and do you want some?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9YqsHoCi5n
“Sure,” he says as his stomach growls. They share a laugh together.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAo2uiT6QO
663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1GqnvbuWfF
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. 663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKgNhZ1Jy63
“What happened to me to make me lose my memory?” he asks.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURQZGw9pVP
“You fell off that tree and hit your head,” she points to a ancient cedar rooted at the corner of the clearing.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZdCruuxcU
“Why doesn’t my head hurt then?” 663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi4ybgA0V7q
His mother pauses for a short bit.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kSxiMlyY2
“Well, you're right, that’s a good question. You must be a fast healer.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ08sbexiRBL
“When did I fall?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWLoeVTkLa
“About two weeks ago.”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡokNQ13yN9m
“Where did you take me to get checked on?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtiNz8CWbdp
“The hospital where your dad works. Why all of the questions?”663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6i5d8JUDL1
“Sorry, just wondering,” he mumbles.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uGxSfRHGr
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.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCDbtT4iraL
663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrqvMyIxlQ9
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. 663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkukNYA7uS1
663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSW0l0K5Ven
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.663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxhw00cgQd
663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErMSwgIea2
663Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSYFR8vWiI
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