Chapter Four, arriving

The now-a-boy walked down streets he used to know, still knew, like the back of his hand. He walked on, going past places that he used to take for granted. The woods by the tracks not yet burned and fallen, the gardens in front of peoples' houses not yet blown and torn to shreds and bits; The miles of asphalt not yet torn out of the ground just to be thrown every which way.

The boy reached a huge building, it looked kind of empty. If this was what he thought it was, then it was a Sunday, and the library was closed.

He still remembered the first time Ma let him go out alone. She had given him a small slip of paper with directions to make sure he knew how to get home. She only gave him one set of directions. "After all," she had said, "you can just read them backwards if you forget how to get there."

[Turn left from the library entrance

Go straight until Gemma and her family's big blue house]

The lights were off in the house, as they should be in the middle of the day. The family was probably at church, they were Christians, and very devoted at that. The walk was pleasant, the trees were where the trees still were, where they would not be. He walked down the street slower than one usually would, as if savouring the sights.

[Turn right on Wenson Rd]

The asphalt was perfectly flat, it had been fixed up and filled recently, though it would prove useless soon.

[Reach the preschool's play structure,

turn into the small alley behind it

Skip the first seven turns out of the alley]

The alley was nothing like what one would expect of an alley. It was bright and sunny, passing between two rows of houses, passing people's backyards and back doors. Sunflowers grew in the cracks on the sides of the alley,

[Turn right after Mona and Jake's place]

Mona and Jake were very stereotypical kids. An older sister who keeps to herself; she'll sit in her room for hours. A younger brother who likes adventure. Running around in the woods, checking out abandoned buildings, that was Jake's thing.

[Walk straight until Meyer Ln

You should know where to go from here.]

He did. He still knew exactly where to go. He knew where to go- so he went. One step at a time, as if savouring the moment. Time wasn't on his side, however. He knew he had to speed up. He stepped faster and faster, jogging, and soon broke into a run. He very nearly missed several trees and poles, narrowly avoiding them just to keep running.

He soon came to a slow, and then to a full stop. The two-story house in front of him seemed like the most average house, but in his mind, it towered over him like a giant. Mustering up his courage, he moved toward the house. Slowly, as if trying not to make a noise, he walked. Left, right, left, right, every muffled footstep sounded like thunder to his ears. And then- it was in front of him. His front door.