Tellings of the Time: Complete series

21. Epilogue

There’s a light coming from the kitchen. I can’t hear the TV, but I really want to watch some. Usually when it’s time to put the lights on, I’m allowed to watch TV. So maybe now is a good time to come out and ask Mommy?

She came back a while ago and told me to go hide real quickly. I thought we were playing hide and seek, but when it took a long time for her to come look for me, I started playing with some cars I found on the floor. There was a really nice one. It’s red and new and can go really fast. It raced the blue one over and over again and it won every time.

The closet I hid in must be a real good hiding place, because I heard Mommy making a lot of noises a while back when she was looking for me, but she never found me. I’m hungry too. And I want an apple juice box. With my superpower muscles I open the doors of the closet, and look around like a real ninja to see if there are any bad guys here I can fight. There are none.

I skip into the kitchen, where the light is on. “Mommy?” I say. But I can’t find her and she doesn’t answer. The light in the living room is off, but I go there anyway. I’m a big boy, Mommy tells me, so I’m not afraid of the dark. I use my super speed to go to the light button and flip the switch before I look into the living room.

There’s Mommy.

What’s she doing? Why is she taking a nap on the floor? I walk a bit closer, to see what she’s doing. Has she stopped playing hide and seek with me? She’s lying down in something icky. I’m not allowed to get myself dirty, not even when playing outside.

“Mommy?”

She doesn’t say anything back. She must really be sleeping. Her clothes are all weird. I can’t ever walk around with my pants down, that’s being a bad boy. But her clothes are all wrong.

“Mommy?”

When I sneak up on her, I see she’s sleeping with her eyes open. That’s funny, because when I can’t sleep, mommy tells me I should just close my eyes and I’ll fall asleep. I touch her cheek, to wake her up. Her cheek is also icky and my hand comes back with something that’s gooey and red. Mommy doesn’t wake up.

“Mommy, wake up. I want to watch TV and I’m hungry.”

She still sleeps. The big clock in the corner makes the dinging sound six times. When I touch her again, she still doesn’t wake up. Tears fall on my cheeks. I’m scared and mommy doesn’t help me. I pick up the phone and dial 911 just like Mommy taught me.

“911, what’s your emergency?” a lady I don’t know says.

“Mommy won’t wake up,” I say as I sniff my nose loudly.

“What’s your name sweetie?”

“Isaac.”