Free The Return by Jennifer Torres Page A

coaxed.
    Recess was almost over, and they had made it through without any rain. Whatever had been in the sky was gone now and nothing but blue skies remained.
    She looked at her watch and picked up a whistle—five more minutes, just enough time for Matthew to get to know those boys—but as she looked over, she could see he had already retreated back under the picnic table.
    Oh well, she thought, there’s always tomorrow.
    The kids raced into three lines when she blew the whistle. It was time to go inside for art.
    She quickly scanned the lines of children. Where was Polly?
    And Matthew?
    She looked back at the picnic table where she had just seen him a moment earlier. But he wasn’t there. As she surveyed the lines again, she counted at least five children missing.
    A slight wave of panic rose from her gut. They had to be hiding. She quickly summoned Mr. Dunkel, the principal, on her walkie-talkie.
    He and a few other teachers came outside and together they looked under tables, in trees, behind playground equipment, but the kids were nowhere to be seen.
    Ms. Wolpert’s eyes widened with fear, and she tried her best to stifle the scream when she realized what had happened.
    The kids had vanished.
    A small group of children have been distracted by a strange man. Drawn into a secluded corner, out of sight from other adults, the children follow the man out of the schoolyard and into a waiting van.
    All but one, a little boy not more than two who decides something doesn’t feel right, and he runs. The feeling of dread, of sheer horror, begins to grow. Looking ahead there is a patch of flowers and a yellow house; if he can just get there, he’ll be safe.
    But a rock hidden in the grass is steps away and he trips, landing on his knees. He looks up; sweat dripping onto his lips, unable to catch his breath.
    His breathing is so labored, the thought of formulating a word seems impossible—but he tries with all his might and can feel it rising from his gut and rolling out of his mouth in a scream.
    â€œMom!”
    Suddenly, a strong hand grips his shoulder, pulling him up from the ground.
    The man is very tall and he manages to scoop the small boy up in one big arm while placing a soft, moist cloth gently over his face with the other arm.
    He feels strange.
    The intense fear and panic is giving way to a sleepy sense of well-being.
    Both arms are around him now, snug, secure—but gentle.
    As both suns rose in the sky, a cool breeze slipped through the open bedroom window, waking Tim from the nightmare.
    It had been two weeks since he had been home from the hospital after his encounter with the yellow-haired man, the one he heard went by the name Canary.
    The school year loomed long without his best friend Luke to share it with. There had been no word about any of the missing. They were just gone.
    As he lay in bed, he pondered just going back to sleep. At least then he wouldn’t have to deal with the loss. But then again, sleep didn’t offer much relief because of the reoccurring nightmare. It had gotten worse over the last few nights. More detailed and terrifying.
    Nope, sleep wasn’t where he would find comfort. The only thing that would give him peace was finding his friends. And he felt sure that meant finding the place called Earth.

Chapter 2
School Daze
    They were whispering again.
    As Timothy made his way downstairs, he could barely hear his parents’ hushed conversation. Pausing, he tried to make out exactly what they were saying.
    He knew they were worried, why else would they keep such a close watch on him? He couldn’t leave the house without a complete debriefing on who he was seeing, where he was going, and exactly what he was doing.
    There had been no more disappearances since Luke. But four kids were gone. Vanished.
    There had been no sign of any of them and the stranger, the one they called Canary, hadn’t spoken a word to authorities, not one word.
    From what