While I'm lying on my right side, my eyes begin to open to the bright beams of sunlight shining through my window in front of me.

  As my eyes adjust, I can barely make out the silhouette of what looks like a person watching me in my sleep.

  I begin to rub the sleep out of my eyes, and once I regain my focus, I can clearly make out two emerald green eyes gazing straight into mine.

  "AHH!" I shriek as I immediately sit up in bed and then open my window.

  "Gabriel! What... what are you doing?"

  "What does it look like I'm doing?" he replies, smiling. "I'm scheming up one hundred and twenty different ways I can suck up your blood without you noticing. By George, you could sleep through an earthquake!"

  I laugh. "Not always. But you ought not to watch people in their sleep while out in the snow, it's a good way for you to catch a cold!"

  Gabriel shrugs, and as he opens his mouth to say something, suddenly, I hear my mom calling, approaching my room.

  "Daniel! Who are you talking to in there?"

  I gasp and motion for Gabriel to go away, but when he refuses, I instead pull him up through the window and onto my bed.

  As my mom begins slowly turning my bedroom door, I have enough time to shut the window quickly.

  "Daniel—" she abruptly pauses as she looks upon the mysterious boy sitting next to me on my bed.

  "Oh," she begins, "who's this?"

  "Uh, Mom," I say nervously, "This is my friend, Gabriel. Gabriel, this is my mom."

  Mom looks at me, then turns her gaze back at Gabriel. "I didn't think Daniel had any friends."

  I look over at Gabriel, who appears deliriously starstruck by the sight of my mother, his jaw on the floor and eyes wide.

  "Well," my mom continues, "I didn't hear the front door open—"

  "Oh, he came in the back way," I quickly reply, lying on Gabriel's behalf. To say that I let him in through the window would sound too absurd to tell my mother.

  "I see," she says, "well, Gabriel, it's truly a pleasure to have you join us in our humble home. I do apologize for that awful draft. I'm afraid our fireplace is the only source of heat we have."

  "I assure you, Madam," Gabriel begins, "the honor is all mine—"

  I elbow his stomach before he can finish his wooing, and mutter under my breath, "Don't you even!"

  "I-I mean," he rephrases his sentence, "I'm... happy to be here!"

  My mom laughs, staring deeply into his eyes. "And are we ever so delighted to have you here, as well! We rarely ever have guests over on Christmas. Oh, Gabriel, I do hope you're allowed to stay for Christmas dinner!"

  "Um," Gabriel mumbles, looking over at me. "Why not? I'm sure my dad won't mind."

  My eyes widen. He's never mentioned any dad to me! Come to think of it, he's never mentioned having any family before.

  "Wonderful!" my mom yells in excitement. "Oh! That reminds me! I had best get started on the feast right away! It will take all day long to cook! Well, I shall leave you, boys, to it, then."

  As my mom leaves the room, she softly kicks away the scattered comic books and magazines lying all over the floor, from my bed to the door.

  I gasp, and while Gabriel is still pondering over my mom, I immediately rush over to gather the large pile of comics, and once I grab hold of most of them, I aggressively throw them all in my closet and slam the bifolds shut.

  "What's that?" Gabriel asks suddenly.

  "Nothing!" I quickly let out with a nervous laugh. "I mean, if it was something, it was probably just the wind."

  "No," Gabriel says as he darts past me and toward my Steiff Mickey Mouse doll that lies upon my shelf. "What's that?"

  I let out a horrified gasp and run over to the shelf. "It's—it's not what it looks like, I swear!"

  As Gabriel stares intently at the doll, he gives it a tender smile, and for a split second, he looks almost... sad.

  "Uh," I begin, quickly thinking of a good excuse before he judges me for still playing with toys. "My cousin! Yes, my kid cousin. He always comes over to visit and accidentally leaves behind all his toys in my room."

  I go on as I reach for the doll. "In fact, it's just garbage anyway; I doubt he would care if I just throw it out and—"

  "Are you insane?!" Gabriel yells angrily as he grabs the doll right out of my hands. "Do you have any idea how much these things are worth?!"

  "B-but you said—"

  "Screw what I said! Daniel, you have an incredible collection of stuff—stuff I've always wished I had... Please don't throw them all away over one stupid comment I made in the past."

  I look shocked, and after a brief moment, I softly speak the word, "Okay," and Gabriel gives me a sweet smile as if he is content with the rather vague response.

  "Okay," he says back, more relaxed than he was a moment ago, and as he turns around to examine the rest of my room, he notices a mountain of unfinished homework piling up on my desk.

  "By George!" he exclaims. "Are these all due this week?"

  I laugh. "Nah. I was given these last week."

  "Well, aren't you planning on finishing them?" he asks.

  "No. I've already decided on simply dropping out of school. After what happened... I can't bear to go back."

  "Rubbish!" Gabriel grumbles. "You can't just drop out of school over one little bad day! Besides, I'm sure everyone has forgotten that incident by now. I already have!"

  He walks over to the stack of assignments to check when they are due. "Ah! Would you look at that? They're all very specifically due by tomorrow morning, which gives you plenty of time to finish them up today."

  "I can't finish all of that in one day!" I complain.

  "Of course you can't, dummy," Gabriel teases, "Which is why I'm going to be there to help you every step of the way."

  What a fun Christmas this is going to be, I sarcastically think to myself.

  "Alright, fine," I say, very annoyed, "But let's try to get them done quickly."

  "Oh, relax," Gabriel reassures me, "With me here, you won't even notice a second go by."

  "Oh, I doubt that," I laugh.

  "Let's take all of these assignments over to the living room, where it's less messy and easier to focus."

  "Sure," Gabriel agrees as he takes one half of the pile, and I take the other, and walk down the hall into the living room.

  We drop the papers onto a little writing desk that my mom and I use as a coffee table when suddenly, I put my hands over my mouth to keep from gasping at the sight of my mother, who gives Gabriel a little wink as she walks in the room wearing a very revealing type dress: a backless bias-cut siren gown and heavy makeup, consisting of ruby red lipstick, thin eyeliner, and the glamor of Ingrid Bergman.

  "Mother!" I call her out, "What are you wearing??"

  "I'm trying out a new dress your grandmother gave me last night," she says, admiring herself, then looks up at me with a hurt expression on her face. "Why? Am I not allowed to pretty myself up for the holidays?"

  "No!" I yell out, then point to Gabriel, who appears to be drooling all over the floor, gawking at my mom's appearance. "I-I mean, not in front of him!"

  "Why, I think you look beautiful," Gabriel says with a sweet smile.

  "Well!" my mom exclaims as she smiles back at Gabriel. "I'm relieved to know at least someone appreciates me! Thank you, dear."

  She turns toward the kitchen, which is connected to the same space as the living room, and starts to prepare Christmas dinner.

  I immediately turn to glare at Gabriel. "What?" he asks cluelessly.

  "Never mind," I say, clearly frustrated, "Just... pick a seat."

  We each pull a chair over to the writing desk, turn on the radio for some relaxing music, and set ourselves down.

  "So you can get this done in a second, huh?" I tease, skeptically.

  "Well..." he begins, looking at the pile of assignments lying in front of us, "Give me fifteen minutes."

  I laugh. "Fifteen minutes is not a second."

  "It will take ten minutes if you help."

  "Fine..." I whine playfully.

  Gabriel reaches for one of the papers, as we both lean forward from our seats to look over it. The assignment reads the equation: "3(2x?5)?4(x+7)=2x+9."

  "Ughhh," I groan, "math!"

  "It's not hard," Gabriel reassures me. "Prove it," I dare him.

  "Okay, look. Start by distributing the numbers. Three times 2x is 6x, right?"

  "Um," I look around nervously and just decide to play along. "Sure."

  "And three times ?5 is ?15," he continues.

  "Now, we distribute the negative four on the other part: ?4 times x is ?4x, and ?4 times 7 is ?28." He writes down the number -28 as the answer.

  "Wow!" I exclaim. "You're incredible!"

  Gabriel shyly laughs. "Thanks."

  "Where did you learn all of this?" I ask curiously.

  "Well," he begins, as his expression darkens, "suffice it to say, I had plenty of time to practice."

  I chuckle. "What does that mean?"

  As if he pretends not to hear me, he reaches for another assignment. "Huh," I shrug.

  After a while of silence, Gabriel finally responds to my question. "My dad taught me," he says.

  This is the second time today he has mentioned his father.

  "You... have a dad?" I hesitantly ask.

  "What, you think I was raised by a log?" he teases.

  "A wolf, actually."

  We both burst out laughing as we move on to the next assignment.

  Every now and then, Gabriel looks over his shoulder, with this look about his face that tells me he likes whatever it is that is distracting him.

  As I finish up what he had started on the sheet before he got carried away, I turn my head to look over at him. This time, he's giggling.

  "What are you looking at?" I ask, with a slight little laugh.

  "Huh? Nothing!" he snaps, "Let's just go back to whatever it was we were doing."

  I lift an eyebrow, and instead of simply taking his word for it, I turn to look at what it is that has been keeping his attention. All I see is my mom.

  My mom is holding back a smile while she cooks dinner.

  "Well, that's suspicious," I think to myself.

  I slowly turn back to look at Gabriel, who is now deeply focused on the assignment.

  "So," I begin, trying to ease the tension. "Are we almost done?"

  "Just two more assignments left," he replies. "And in only twenty minutes."

  I smile and joke, "Twenty minutes is not ten minutes, and it is certainly not a second!"

  "Yeah, well..." Gabriel begins to think of what to say when suddenly my mom waves him over by the kitchen sink.

  "Gabriel!" she calls, "Could you come over here for a second, please?"

  Without any delay, Gabriel rushes over to her to see what she wants, while I finish up the last of the schoolwork.

  As I write down the answers, I can't help but overhear the whispers being exchanged between my mom and Gabriel. And laughter.

  What could she possibly be saying to him? Could she... No.

  I put down my pencil and pull myself up from my chair to cut in on their little chat.

  As soon as I come between them, they suddenly cease speaking at the sight of me and instead smile quite vacuously at one another.

  "Ahem." I clear my throat to break the hypnotized trance they both seem to be in.

  Nothing.

  "AHEM!" I say louder.

  "Oh, Daniel," my mom looks at me in surprise, as if she didn't know I was standing right in front of her. "Gabriel and I were just discussing his favorite holiday dishes so that I may include them in the meal. Weren't we, Gabriel?"

  "Oh, why, yes, of course!" Gabriel replies without hesitation.

  I put my arm around my mom's shoulder and guide her away from Gabriel's ears to whisper, "But, Mom, we barely have enough money to get a properly sized turkey. How are you gonna afford to pay for personalized dishes?"

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Daniel," she begins, "Gabriel is our guest. We owe it to him—and to our pride—to make this home as comfortable as possible."

  She gazes down at me and continues, "Now, look. After your little outburst last night, your grandmother promised to give us a little extra money for Christmas, so a few more dishes won't hurt us much. In fact, I'd say we've earned it."

  Gabriel and I go back to finish the remaining homework and spend the evening in my room looking through my comic collection and impersonating specific characters.

  After a while, Gabriel asks, "Hey. Would you like to see something?"

  "See what?" I ask with wide eyes.

  "Never mind," Gabriel reconsiders in a teasing tone, "A little pup like you just isn't ready for what I have in mind..."

  "I am not little!" I insist, stomping my foot on the floor. "And I am as ready for anything as you are!"

  "You sure?" he asks with a grin.

  "Of course I'm sure!"

  "Is your mom okay with you going out after dark?" I look unsure for a second.

  "Oh, um, let me ask her."

  We run through the hall and catch my mom making the last of the Christmas dinner.

  "Mom," I begin, "is it okay if Gabriel and I go out for a little bit?"

  "Where on earth would you be going this late?" she asks, laughing as if she thought I was joking.

  "Just... going for a little stroll."

  My mom raises an eyebrow and reluctantly agrees. "But you had better come home in time for dinner!" she yells as Gabriel and I grab our jackets and dart out the door.

  "Soooo," I ask nervously, "Where are you taking me?"

  "You'll see when we get there." Gabriel vaguely replies.

  We walk through the dark, snow-covered streets, bundling up in our jackets as Gabriel leads me out of the neighborhood and into downtown, where all of the shops and restaurants are lined up perfectly in a straight line on each side of the street.

  He then leads me to the entrance of a pitch-black alley that, unlike the one Gabriel had previously taken me to, is actually pretty wide.

  "You want me to go in there?" I ask, a tad suspicious of Gabriel's intentions.

  "Why, you scared of the dark?" he teases as he disappears into the intense darkness of the alley.

  "W-what? No!" I cry out, hesitantly following behind.

  As I run to catch up with Gabriel, I stumble over my feet when I feel my shoelaces suddenly come undone. I kneel to the ground and begin, annoyed, to tie the laces back together, but Gabriel has unknowingly run off without me, leaving me both alone and vulnerable.

  As I finally tie the last lace, I pull myself up off the ground when suddenly I am ambushed by two mysterious figures whose faces are hidden by the darkness, attempting to tear the jacket off my arms as I struggle and kick with every inch of strength I have in me.

  When it becomes obvious who is winning the fight, the figures immediately retreat near the entrance as I swiftly turn to face them and blow away a strand of my now messy hair from my eye, and from the bright lights shining through from distant shops, I make out the frightened faces of two young boys of about eight and ten, whose faces appear to be covered in ashes, and wearing nothing but loose-fitting rags for clothes.

  I look down at the jacket that they were trying to steal, which is now hanging over my shoulders, and I then look up into their desperate, tearful eyes as they shiver in the blistering cold.

  I know my mom will kill me once she finds out I've lost my only jacket, but... What am I saying? How can I be so selfish? I sigh in shame and begin to remove my jacket as I slowly approach the frightened boys.

  They dart back at the sight of me.

  "No, no, it's okay!" I softly reassure them. "Here," I gently place the jacket neatly in the snow. "You can have it."

  The boys hesitate at first, but as I turn back to where Gabriel had taken off, they quickly rush over to the jacket, which they use instead as a blanket, wrapping it around each other's shoulders.

  Suddenly, I hear from behind me, the oldest boy yelling, "Thank you!"

  I turn my head to give him a warm smile and a nod, carrying on my walk through the dark alley until I reach Gabriel.

  Dragging my boots across the snow, I find Gabriel standing idly by, waiting impatiently for me to catch up.

  "Well, there you are!" he snaps, "What was keeping you?"

  "Well, I—"

  "Oh, wait," he interrupts, "Let me guess. It was your own shadow. Am I right?"

  "Actually, I—"

  "Here," he once again cuts me off, reaching into his pockets and offering me a sticky, brown chunk of what looks like a brick in the palm of his hand. "Want some?" he asks, chewing on some himself.

  "Uh..."

  "What, don't tell me you've never chewed tobacco before!" Gabriel exclaims.

  I shake my head.

  Gabriel groans. "Of course you haven't..."

  He places the tobacco onto my hand. "It's just like chewing gum, only you gotta spit it out once you're finished. C'mon, give it a try, it's good stuff. This brand is maple-flavored."

  I take a bite out of a chunk, savoring the sweet maple as I casually swirl it around in my mouth as I would with gum, and as Gabriel and I continue to walk down the path, I spit it out as Gabriel instructs.

  Only, when I turn to my right to see where it had flown, I stand face to face with an angry, bearded, middle-aged man, dressed in a large black cloak, with the quid of tobacco lying between his two rotten front teeth.

  I gasp in horror as I dart back and accidentally bump into Gabriel.

  "You fool boy!" the man shouts in a scratchy, threatening tone, as he picks the quid out of his teeth.

  "I-I-I'm sorry, sir!" I say in a shaky voice as Gabriel holds me by the shoulders for comfort. "It won't happen again, I promise!"

  "You be sure it doesn't, boy, or else I'll be spitting out chunks of you!"

  The man unfolds his cloak and, without a trace, disappears deep within the darkness.

  "'Sir'? Seriously?" Gabriel asks, cringing.

  "Well, the whole thing was my fault!" I take full responsibility, telling him. "That man was just an innocent bystander in it all."

  "I'd be careful where I throw around the word 'innocent' if I were you," Gabriel advises.

  "Huh?" I ask, thinking he simply must be paranoid. "What are you talking about?"

  "Don't tell me you didn't see."

  "See what?" I ask, annoyed.

  Gabriel steps toward my side and whispers, "He was hiding morphine under his cloak."

  My eyes widen in horror as I hesitantly turn to the direction in which he vanished, and I gulp at the mere thought of encountering someone like that, and God forbid, speaking to him!

  "Let me tell you something, pup," Gabriel begins, "Everybody has an ugly side within them that they must disguise to fool and take advantage of stupid boys like you!"

  I remain silent, and as we walk deeper into the alley, he continues, "Your teacher? Forget it. A dog named Scott? Don't make me laugh. Dear old grandma, knitting socks by the fireplace? Give me a break!"

  Actually, that last part is completely believable, I think, remembering my Grandma.

  "You see, pup? Everybody is out to get you. You just can't trust no one!"

  "Is that how you go through your life?" I ask. "Thinking every random person you encounter is 'out to get you'?"

  Gabriel scoffs. "How else do you think I've survived this long?"

  "Through the care of your father, perhaps?" I remark.

  Gabriel turns to me as his expression darkens, and remains silent for the rest of our walk until he comes to an abrupt stop at a run-down, crappy, three-story building.

  "What?" I ask.

  "We're here," he informs me.

  "Oh..." For a while, I had forgotten Gabriel was actually taking me somewhere.

  I crane my neck as I spot an old sign hanging above the entrance, and, through all of the bullet holes, I make out the words: "Zajazd Pod Lip?."

  "You took me to an inn??" I yell out in confusion.

  "Not just any inn," Gabriel says, as he takes my hand and leads me inside.

  As we enter, the smell of cigarette smoke fills the air, yet only two patrons are visible sitting against the red and gold wallpaper of the walls.

  Behind the round counter of the bar lies a frail, old man with a thin, grey mustache and a horseshoe haircut, slowly falling asleep to the hum of the radio.

  "Old Maik!" Gabriel announces excitedly.

  "Oh!" the old man exclaims, jolting back as if startled. "Oh! Gabriel, it's you, you old boy! Oh, and what's this?"

  He looks over at me as I shyly hide behind Gabriel's broad shoulder.

  "Well, would you look at that?" the man says softly. "Oh, Gabriel, why must you bring such a poor, confused little boy to such a place as this?"

  What did he just call me??

  As I open my mouth to give him a piece of my mind, Gabriel quickly corrects the man, saying, "Uh, he's older than he appears."

  "Oh?"

  The man observes me up and down, and looks me straight in the eyes.

  "And he's with me tonight," Gabriel continues.

  The man turns to Gabriel with a shocked look on his face. "You can't possibly mean—"

  Gabriel nods to his incomplete comprehension.

  The man looks over at me with concern. "Are you sure you want to go along with this?"

  Unaware of what he means, and not wanting to disappoint Gabriel, I just smile and nod.

  "Well, alright, if you're sure..." the man says as he motions Gabriel and me over to the counter.

  We both take our seats on two high stools.

  "So what will it be?" the man asks Gabriel.

  "The usual," Gabriel replies with a grin.

  "Same for your, um, friend?"

  "Oh, he's cool with whatever," Gabriel responds for me.

  "You know," the man begins as he pours us two cups of what I think looks like water, only... cloudy-looking. That's odd, I think.

  "Your friend might just be the youngest lad I've ever served bimber to."

  "Bimber?" I ask curiously.

  "Oh, moonshine," the man quickly replies, clarifying.

  "Moonshine!" I turn to Gabriel with wide eyes. "Doesn't that make you go crazy??"

  Gabriel laughs. "It makes you loosen up a little, pup. And by that look on your face, you certainly could need it."

  "B-but—"

  "C'mon, stop being a baby, you need to learn to live a little!"

  I fall silent for a moment and finally give in to the pressure.

  "Okay," I respond. "You're right. I do need to loosen up."

  "Yeah, that's the spirit!" Gabriel encourages.

  I turn toward the strong scent of the thin, watery liquid that sits in front of me, and for a second, I am taken aback by the intense smell of chemicals, but I reluctantly pull it closer to my mouth as I slowly begin to take a tiny sip.

  As soon as I force myself to swallow, I immediately choke as the liquid burns through my lungs like a fire, causing a strange reaction as tears stream down my cheeks and I cling to the countertop as hard as I can.

  "Hey, hey," the bartender softly speaks as he pats my back to help ease my coughing fit. "You're okay, this is only your first time. You'll get used to it."

  He pulls the strong smell of the drink slightly away from me for a moment until I recover.

  "You don't have to drink more of this if you don't want to," the man says.

  "No!" I shout in a desperate, raspy voice from all that coughing.

  I clear my throat and start over. "I mean... I'm fine, honest!"

  "You sure?" he asks in a suspicious tone.

  "Yes, can I have it back now, please?"

  The man grumbles, bewildered, and slides the cup closer within reach.

  I turn to Gabriel, who is already halfway finished with his cup, and turn back to mine.

  I exhale deeply as I grab the cup once again and force myself to drink every last sip, holding back any coughs that try to rush through me.

  "I am in control," I repeatedly tell myself. "I am in control!"

  I drink and drink and drink till the very last drop.

  Gabriel bursts into laughter as he turns the radio up.

  "Now you're getting it!"

  "Done already?" the bartender asks, surprisingly. "How are you feeling?"

  "I..."

  Before I can finish my sentence, I reach for my forehead as I start to get very dizzy.

  "I couldn't feel better!" I burst out with a grin.

  "Sure," the bartender says, clearly unconvinced. "Hey, why don't you take it easy for a while, kid?"

  "Hey, look, Mister," Gabriel chimes in as he leans forward to the bartender. "This pup is under my protection tonight."

  Gabriel reaches into his pockets and throws one z?oty onto the countertop, and whispers, "Just, uh, let us rent a room for a night, and I'll get him feeling better in no time."

  The man hesitates for a moment, but then takes the z?oty and, in turn, gives Gabriel a room key.

  Gabriel giggles as he rises from his stool and tugs my sleeve.

  "C'mon, pup! You're gonna be having yourself some fun!"

  I squint up at him with tired eyes.

  "Gabri—" I pause suddenly to remember his name. "Gabby... Wait... Wha—?"

  "Don't you worry," Gabby reassures me, but he sounds almost like an echo. "The fun you'll be having will take place in bed."

  "Bed..." I repeat to myself, reaching my arms out to him.

  He pulls me toward his strong, muscular arms and sweeps me off my feet.

  "Gabby!" I shout, giggling.

  "Shhh," Gabby whispers. "You're okay. I've got you."

  Suddenly, I feel him losing his grip on me.

  "Gabby!" I gasp as my head almost hits the floor.

  "Hahaha," Gabby laughs. "I've got you!"

  He continues tricking me into thinking he's gonna drop me multiple times throughout the climb up the stairs, which I do not find amusing.

  Gabby makes his way along the red carpet of the hallway and finally lays me gently down on the floor, as he approaches a shady-looking fellow of about 17, smoking a cigarette in a corner of the corridor.

  "Cień!" Gabby announces.

  The boy exhales a large puff of smoke and turns to Gabby with dark eyes.

  "You a friend of Dorothy?" the boy oddly asks.

  "Best, best friends," Gabby responds. "She's my favorite cousin."

  "Heh," the boy softly chuckles. "How you been doing, old chum?"

  "Well," Gabby begins, "to tell you the truth, I've been feeling very generous lately. So I've decided to bring you, shall we say, a gift between old friends?"

  The boy scoffs. "Cut the sweet talk and just show me what you got, will ya?"

  Gabby walks over to me, lying on my stomach as if the carpet is my own personal bed, and drags me by my feet toward the mysterious figure as I struggle to kick him off of me.

  "Cut it out, pup!" Gabby snaps at me and looks up at the boy with a grin. "Fierce little tiger, isn't he?"

  "Your tiger, I presume?" the boy asks.

  "Nah," Gabby says with a shrug. "He's just some poor, clueless little kid I so selflessly took on the task of shaping up."

  Immediately, I erupt like a volcano, screaming and crying, "I am not poor! I am not helpless! AND I AM CERTAINLY NOT A LITTLE—"

  Gabby quickly covers my mouth to shut me up before I wake the entire town, then lifts me and hands me—along with his room key—to the mysterious boy.

  "Gabby, wha—?"

  Before I can comprehend what's happening, Gabby yells from across the hall, "Have fun, pup!"

  And for a second, he looks almost sad as this mysterious stranger carries me away from him.

  Suddenly, I feel a rush of fear.

  I don't know who this boy is! I don't know where he's taking me! And most terrifyingly, I don't know what he's gonna do with me.

  Did Gabby just... give me away to someone? I thought... I thought we were friends.

  As the boy stops in front of an old, wooden door, he turns the key and carries me inside a small bedroom consisting of a window and a cheap mattress covered in bed bugs with strings sticking out of it.

  The boy then sets me down on my feet and aggressively pushes me onto the mattress as he quietly shuts the door, trapping both the awkwardness and sheer silence in the tiny room, which is built more like a closet.

  The only sounds in the air come from the howling of the blustering wind right outside the window.

  Strangely enough, I take pleasure in every second, every moment that I've been missing my whole life.

  For the first time, I feel... seen. I feel... free.

  And despite the freezing temperatures of the room, I feel warm. It's the best feeling in the world. God, I wish this night could last forever.

  After midnight, I meet up with Gabby, who is sitting on a stool by the bar.

  "Hey," I gently say as I approach him.

  "Pup!" he exclaims as he jumps off the stool. "I didn't hear Cień leave. So how'd it go?"

  "Yeah, he all but vanished once the clock struck 1:00. It went..."

  I pause to think of the right words before continuing.

  "...pretty well, actually."

  Gabby laughs. "I never thought you'd admit it! Turns out taking you here was the right choice after all!"

  "Yeah..." I hesitantly agree as my face darkens. "So, um, how did things go for you?"

  Gabby scoffs. "Other than gobbling up four cups of moonshine, things have been dull, dull, dull!"

  "You had four cups of moonshine??" I ask in alarm. "Are you sure you'll be alright on your way home?"

  "Haha, don't worry about me, pup," Gabby reassures me. "Four cups is nothing."

  I laugh a little, taking his word for it, when suddenly, we find ourselves standing in silence.

  "So," Gabby begins as he clears his throat. "Um, I... I... I don't know how to say this, but... I really missed you, pup."

  I smile. "I missed you, too, Gabby."

  "Gabriel," he corrects me, laughing.

  "Huh?" I ask in confusion.

  "Haha, never mind. You'll remember."

  "Remember what?" I ask, trying my hardest to remember what I forgot.

  "Let's just head home, pup."

  Gabby chuckles as he takes my hand and leads me back to my neighborhood.

  "Merry Christmas, Pup," he says as we stand by my front door.

  "Merry Christmas, Gabby."

  I walk toward the knob when suddenly Gabby takes my hand again.

  "Wait," he begins.

  I turn to face him with concern. "Yes?" I ask, lovingly.

  He hesitates for a moment, then finally says, "Um... Forget it. I'll, uh, see you tomorrow."

  Before I have the chance to respond, he rushes off into the night.

  I shrug my shoulders as I slowly start to turn the knob and enter my living room, only... only something wasn't right.

  As I close the door, I turn to see my mother standing by with crossed arms, and Mrs. Majewska sitting on the couch, sipping hot chocolate by the fire.

  The first word that comes out of my mom's mouth is "I KNOW."

  My heart immediately begins to race.

  "K-know what?"

  "Don't play dumb with me, little boy!" she shouts. "I told you to come straight home in time for dinner, and what do you do?! You arrive at 1:00 in the morning, and the meal I had prepared specially for Christmas has all but gone to a complete waste!"

  She walks a step toward me and lowers her voice.

  "And just what, pray tell, were you doing out in the night all alone with that poor, innocent boy whom I'm sure you forced to go along with you? Was it, perhaps, a 'stroll'?"

  She turns to the couch and grabs a sheet of paper, showcasing the drawing I had drawn of Gabby.

  "Or was it this?!" she yells angrily.

  "Uhhh."

  I touch my head as I once again start to feel very dizzy.

  "Answer me!!" my mom shouts. "What were you doing with him?!"

  "Uhhhhh."

  I lean back against the front door, my hands on my head.

  "What is with you? I am asking you a question!"

  I gasp for air as I try to spit out a word, but my tongue won't move. My legs won't move. I am glued to the floor.

  My mother stomps her way toward me to slap me across the face when, suddenly, I throw up all over the floor, as my mom screams and darts back.

  "Daniel!"

  My head feels so dizzy, like the whole world is spinning round in circles before my eyes.

  I hold my stomach tight to prevent myself from throwing up again as I collapse onto the hard floor.

  "Daniel!" I hear my mom scream again, but her voice sounds so far away.

  The image of the ceiling and my mom kneeling over me grows blurrier and blurrier until everything is pitch black, and I fall completely unconscious.

  After what feels like a while, I wake to the sight of my still-dark room, lying comfortably in my cozy bed covered in blankets.

  Either side of my head feels as if a hammer is pounding it.

  I glance over at my clock, which reads 2:00 a.m.

  What happened to me? I can't seem to remember.

  Suddenly, I hear whispering down the hall. Who could be visiting at this hour?

  I quietly slip on my shoes and tiptoe down the hall, where I peek around a corner to see Mrs. Majewska sitting next to my mom by the fireplace.

  "He's obviously been drinking," I hear Mrs. Majewska tell my mom.

  It all comes back to me now.

  My mom yelling at me, her pulling out my drawing, Mrs. Majewska watching as I vomit all over the place...

  Oh! No, it—it can't be true. It's a dream, that's it! A bad dream!

  My mom glances up at Mrs. Majewska with tears in her eyes.

  "I just..." she begins. "I just can't believe it. Daniel's always been such a good boy, rarely ever getting himself in trouble, yet... for the past few weeks, he's been acting more and more like a stranger to me, and I don't know where I've gone wrong!"

  She bursts into tears, leaning onto Mrs. Majewska's lap as she comforts my mom.

  "Now, now, dear," she says, gently patting my mom's back.

  "It's my fault," my mom continues, "being a single mother. If only Daniel could have been raised alongside a father, perhaps this kind of behavior would have been prevented."

  "Why, dear!" Mrs. Majewska exclaims. "Now, don't you start getting it through your head that this is your fault!"

  "In fact, through my work as a teacher, I've seen quite a few children experiencing the same kind of symptoms with both parents present. It is merely a phase, that's all!"

  My mom looks up at her with encouragement.

  "You think so?"

  "Oh, I haven't been teaching for sixteen years without learning a thing or two from the children! You simply must do to him what you would do to any misbehaving child, which is to say, plenty of hard discipline and a cold shoulder."

  "Now, you mustn't get soft, dear! This is for Daniel's own good after all!"

  "Oh, I simply couldn't!" my mom says, crying.

  "Why, you did just an hour ago!" Mrs. Majewska points out.

  "Yes..." my mom agrees hesitantly. "But I was not in my right mind then."

  "Nonsense! You had every right to react the way you did, and I say, if you truly love a child, you must be more than willing to show them who's in control!"

  My mom sighs. "Maybe you're right."

  Sweat drips down my face as I see my mom reaching for a hug from Mrs. Majewska by the fire, and I run back to my room in tears.