Free The Chosen by Kristina Ohlsson

everything had gone quiet. He had remained motionless for
a long time, his body rigid with fear.
    Until a loud gunshot made him leap to his feet as quickly as if it had been fired inside the van. Warm piss trickled down his legs. Simon had gone hunting with his father several times, and knew
the sounds that went with such expeditions. But the shot he had just heard had nothing to do with the hunt. He could feel it in every fibre of his ten-year-old body.
    He waited and waited.
    Exhausted and even more terrified, he sank to the floor. At long last the man came back.
    Without Abraham.
    The man didn’t answer his question.
    ‘Tell me where he is!’
    Simon’s voice was weak as he tried to shout.
    He couldn’t control himself any longer. Tears poured down his grubby cheeks.
    ‘I want to go home,’ he sobbed. ‘Please let me go home.’
    The man just looked at him. Then he took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it. He gazed around in the way that people do when they don’t really have anything to look at. His eyes
roamed across the bare trees without alighting anywhere.
    By the time he eventually spoke, Simon had dropped to his knees in the snow, his arms wrapped around his body. Where had Abraham gone?
    He gave a start when he heard the man’s voice.
    ‘Has your father told you about the Paper Boy?’ the man said, staring at him.
    Simon nodded.
    ‘Answer me!’
    Simon wiped the snot and tears from his face with the back of his hand.
    ‘Yes, he has.’
    The man took a long drag of his cigarette.
    ‘Good. In that case you know why you’re here.’
    Did he?
    Simon didn’t understand a thing.
    The cigarette smoke smelled strong, making him cough. The piss in his pants made them feel stiff.
    ‘Get up.’
    Automatically he did as he was told. His legs were so cold they hurt.
    The man threw his cigarette down on the snow and slowly turned to face him.
    Simon took a step backwards.
    It looked as if smoke was coming out of the man’s mouth as he breathed. He ran a hand over his chin.
    ‘Your father had the greatest respect for the Paper Boy when he was little. As you know, the Paper Boy is happiest in the warmth and the darkness. He sleeps during the day, and comes to
the children at night. But this time he has made an exception, and has come in the cold and the daylight instead.’
    Simon couldn’t think clearly.
    The Paper Boy.
    ‘Why does he come to the children at night?’
    His voice was no more than a whisper.
    The man grew serious.
    ‘He steals them. Takes them from their parents and tears them to pieces.’
    Suddenly the man was angry. He hissed:
    ‘And you know what? Your father became just like him.’
    Simon realised two things simultaneously:
    He was in a very dangerous situation. And he had no idea how to get out of it.
    The man took a step towards him, and Simon fell backwards in the snow as he tried to move away.
    ‘Get up and take off your shoes and socks.’
    Simon blinked.
    ‘You heard me. Take off your shoes and socks and I’ll give you a chance.’
    Without waiting for Simon to obey, he walked past him and opened the driver’s door of the van. Simon stood there as if he had turned to stone, and saw the man reach inside for
something. When he turned around he was holding a rifle.
    Simon started crying again.
    ‘There’s no need to be afraid. If you just do as I say, I’ll give you a chance.’
    He lowered the gun as if to show that he meant what he said.
    ‘Do as I say and I’ll let you go.’
    With trembling hands Simon slowly began to undo his shoelaces.
    His feet were freezing cold.
    And he was weary.
    Bone weary.
    As he stood barefoot in front of the man, he almost didn’t care what was going to happen.
    The man stared at him for a long time.
    ‘Okay, Simon. Listen carefully. I want you to run as fast as you can. Do you understand?’
    Not really.
    Run?
    Run where?
    ‘Run! Run like the wind, and you might get away from him.’
    Simon blinked again, still numb with cold and