I went back only because I forgot my toothbrush.

There was no other reason and I hated that the most, that I should be defeated by a simple toothbrush. Thing was, I couldn’t just get another one. No, that wouldn’t be right.

The door was how I’d left it, slightly ajar, but not enough that would make anyone worry. As easy-going as Ben and Kristy were, I might be able to disappear for a few days and they not notice. But how should I know?

I hurried through the front hall and up the stairs to my room. It was as expected, cluttered with clothes and toys strewn about.

No matter…

It didn’t, not now anyway. The bathroom was across the room, the cabinet above the sink. I stood on my tip-toes to reach the knob. Being short was certainly not something I enjoyed but merely dealt with. And even that was hard every now and then.

It sat on the bottom shelf—the only one I could reach without help. The brush was propped against the side of the cabinet as though abandoned. Technically, it had been. I was lucky I hadn’t burned it the day that I’d been placed in this dump.

If I’d been able to find matches, I would have.

With toothbrush in hand, I bounded down the steps and leaped past the last three like I’d seen Garrett do a hundred times before. Then through the horrid pink-flower-wallpaper kitchen I went, down the hall and out the door.

It should have been harder than that, I knew, but figured it probably wasn’t a big deal. I’d already done it once before, after all.

The bag on my back wasn’t very heavy, containing three comic books, Spiderman, of course. Then there was a package of two Pop-Tarts that I had found in the cupboard, and, as of now, my toothbrush.

It wasn’t something that I could use… more like something I kept just to remember. A memento, some might say, though it doesn’t need a fancy name of any sort. I just like ‘toothbrush.’ It worked just fine.

My feet took me in their direction. I had no idea what I was to do when I got to where I was going. I actually had no intention of going anywhere.

Far from it.

I had no where to go and didn’t know where I would wind up. I seemed strange that I wasn’t scared, though I knew I should be.

Truth was; it made my skin crawl with excitement.

Out on my own… no one to tell me no…

The trees rustled quietly in their slumber, it being late afternoon. The leaves shone brilliant colors—all different. Sunrays stretched across the ground and left a long shadow at my feet as I stared at the cracks in the sidewalk.

Something stirred to my right. I glanced from the corner of my eyes, almost hoping that it might be something that could bring danger, adventure, or even something to help me find somewhere to go. But that would have been too good to be true.

And it was. A cat darted from underneath the brush and leapt into the air, its paws outstretched to capture a butterfly that flittered across my path.

“Scat!” I waved my arms at the cat to make it run and tried to hit the butterfly from its flight, but it wasn’t to be daunted.

I shrugged and continued.

My legs began to ache. I looked back over my shoulder to see how far away from the house I was and saw that I didn’t recognize the street.

Well…

Nothing to be afraid of. Not, really anyway. Except boogey-men… and Big-foot. And what had Garrett told me about the other night? Yeti?

No… they live in mountains…

I continued despite my ridiculous thoughts. Something seemed to be drawing me onward, towards an invisible force. Something strong.

Suddenly everything seemed familiar again. A house to my right with a small white picket fence… I had seen it before.

Then I remembered. This was where Garrett went to school. His school was a lot bigger than the one I went to. He had always said it was because all the kids were a lot bigger and needed more space. I wasn’t quite sure if I believed him or not yet.

I suddenly decided where I was going. Garrett would have to be at school now. Basketball practice was always after five in the afternoon.

So I continued down the walk, hoping that my feet would know the way. They did, surprisingly.

The school soon loomed before me. One of the doors was propped open with a kick stand. I walked in slowly, not really sure of myself anymore.

I was in a high school. That meant tall kids.

To my right there were huge double doors that all but dominated the hallway. I hurried over to one of them and grabbed the handle. Since I couldn’t peek through the glass at the top, I would have to open it.

This should be great…

I heaved the door open and peeked inside. Basketball.

But there were girls playing it instead of guys. One had already seen me. Her face practically melted right there. “Ah, look at him, you guys!” She stares at me and motioned for her friends to look. “Isn’t he cute?”

For some reason I felt as though I was on the front lines of a freak show at the carnival. I got out of there and fast.

To avoid being by any other potential fan-girls, I raced down the opposite hall and turned into the next. There was no sound behind me, so I stopped to catch my breath.

This hall wasn’t quite as long as the one before, so I ventured towards the double doors at the end. I could see people through the fuzzy glass that covered the half-windows near the center of both.

Could that be where Garrett was?

I almost laughed at myself. I was actually asking myself questions when I already knew the answer. It figured that I wouldn’t be able to find Garrett…especially on the day I needed him most.

A woman came out of one of the doors ahead of me. She gave me no more than a glance and walked right past. Maybe it wasn’t so unusual for a ten-year-old to walk through the high school after all.

I hurried down the hall and plastered my face against the iced-over windows. (At least it looked like ice on the windows, though indoors.)

The people inside were moving quickly, flashes of color across the blur. For some time I stared at the colors as they passed by, I’m not sure how long it was that I was caught in their spell. Then something touched my shoulder.

“What are you doing here?”

The voice was rough—too rough to be Garrett’s voice. I turned slowly to look up into the face of a terrifying man. He towered over me, his nose pointed into the air as though he owned the world. Before he said anything besides those five words, I knew I hated him.

“I asked you a question, young man.”

I stood dumb, not hearing him, not comprehending what the sounds that were coming from his lips meant. It made no sense until he said it again.

“Young man. I asked you a question.”

Before I had a chance to answer the door from behind swung open. I saw it before it actually hit me. But by then, it was too late to move.