“What is this mess?” Mother shouted, pointing to the legos that littered the floor of the living room. Her hair was in a messy bun that was beginning to fall out, just as it always did when she became angry and frazzled. “This is completely unacceptable! I can’t handle this!”

The boy peered up at her with dry eyes, not saying a word. “Listen, I need you to do your part around here! You need to step it up!” she shouted. “You’re the man of the house now!”

The boy sat on the couch as he looked down at the floor, ashamed to meet her eyes. Mother collected herself and took a deep breath. She knelt down and took the boy by the hand.

“Listen,” she began, “I don’t mean to yell. But I need you to understand that I can’t do this on my own. It’s just us now, and you’re going to need to be responsible.” She smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. “I have to leave for work. Don’t worry, my boss said he’s going to stop scheduling me on Saturdays soon. Then I’ll be home more and we can do all sorts of fun things!” She gently kissed his forehead and then stood up. “I’m leaving now. You be good today. Bye, Sweetie.” She left quickly, closing the door behind her.

It was a dark and stormy morning, and the house was empty and quiet. He could hear the rain pounding down on the solid oak of the roof. He tumbled off the couch and scurried to the window, peering out at the trees as they trembled in the wind. The water of the lake was moving rapidly, sending ferocious waves crashing into the shore. The little boy watched intently as the small wooden rowboat that was tied to the post of the dock was shaken by the currents.

The winds began to lift the sand into the air, and it started to swirl faster and faster until it formed small, ominous funnels. The sky’s colors began to blend together, as if God was stirring a paint pallette of murky greys, browns, and greens until he had created a solid canvas of black.

He didn’t know why, but he felt compelled to go outside and experience the storm for himself. He slowly creaked open the front door and timidly stepped outside. The winds began to attack him, attempting to take him with them. He gripped tightly to the frame of the door. He tentatively stepped forward, still tightly grasping whatever object was closest to him. The sand whipped his face and stung his eyes, and the rain punctured his neck like needles.

Yet he still soldiered on, pushing through the wind. He trudged through the mud until he reached the lake. The currents were moving faster and faster until they began to move in a circular motion. They were creating a whirl pool. A deep Dark hole began to form in the center of the lake, and all of the water was funneling into it. The boy gasped. He stepped forward with a strong desire to investigate.

He walked out on the old wooden dock. The dock was swaying in the wind, and he could feel the posts shaking. Just then, he saw something slowly emerge from the center of the whirl pool. It was a dark, shadowy figure, and he couldn’t quite make it out.

Overwhelmed with curiosity, he climbed into the row boat and united the ropes. He began to row towards the center of the whirl pool, aiming to investigate. The winds were strong, and it took all of his strength to force the paddles through the water and propel himself forward. The boat rocked back and forth violently, and water began to fill the boat.

He at last reached the whirl pool, and he began to hear a faint wail. His heart began to beat faster. Was someone in trouble? Was someone drowning? The wail began to grow louder, and he realized that it wasn’t a wail of sorrow. It was a sound of joy, accompanied with high pitched giggles of delight.

The boy furrowed his bro, confused. He carefully paddled just a little bit closer. All of a sudden, his small boat was captured by the powerful currents and he felt himself spinning around and around. Faster, faster, and faster- soon his vision was blurred and he was unaware of his surroundings. He drew closer and closer to the center of the whirl pool, his heart racing and head aching. Suddenly, the entire boat was pulled within the black hole, and the boy felt himself falling.

Yet he wasn’t underwater. He wasn’t even wet. He opened his eyes, but only saw darkness. His fair was flying in his face as he continued to fall and fall. Suddenly, he landed with a thud.

Anxiously, the boy sat up and slowly opened his eyes. He realized he was sitting in a dark, damp patch of dirt in the middle of a forest. The shadows of tall oak trees surrounded him, and a gentle breeze sent chills down the boy’s spine. He slowly stood up and spun around himself, examining his surroundings. There was no one in sight.  

Just then, a small rabbit scurried out in front of him. He was grey and had a small patch of white on his nose. He looked directly into the eyes of the boy, as if he was examining him.

“Hello,” Bunny said as he stood up on his hind legs.

The boy took a step back, his eyes wide with uncertainty. Bunny hopped closer to him.

“Don’t be afraid,” Bunny said warmly. “I’m a friend. You’re here to have fun! Do you want to have fun?” The boy nodded cautiously. “Good! Follow me!”

Bunny begin heading back into the depths of the forest. The boy froze momentarily, uncertain of what to do. Realizing he had nowhere else to go, the boy quickly decided to follow Bunny. Bunny began to move faster and faster, deeper and deeper into the woods. The boy had to run as fast as he could to keep up.

At last, Bunny stopped. He had led them to the end of the woods, and before them was a wide, open field. The sky was blue, and the sun shone brightly on the endless open space filled with green grass and wild flowers.

“Here we are!” Bunny proclaimed. The boy stared at Bunny, his face blank. “It’s the field of happiness! This is where we all come to play forever!”

The boy looked around and noticed that there were other animals coming forward to meet him. Rabbits, birds, mice, dogs, cats, and birds came happily bounding towards them. A deer came gracefully forward and nodded to the boy in acknowledgement.

“Welcome, young one,” Father Deer said. “Here, you will be happy.”

“We play games!” exclaimed Dog.

“We tell stories!” the mice excitedly proclaimed.

“We sing songs!” sang the birds.

Father Deer smiled warmly. “You are young,” he said lovingly. “Here, you will spend all of your time playing with us. You will never be alone.” A small smile began to tug at the boy’s lips.

Just then, violent thunder awoke the boy with a start. He sat up and found himself sitting on the old floral couch in the living room. The floor was still littered with legos, and the house was still silent and empty. And the storm outside raged on.