reached the little porch. Christopher opened the door like a doorman and let his friends walk in first. One by one. Special Ed, then Mike, then Matt. The three boys huddled in the tree house and started talking about how they were going to bring out furniture and iPads to watch movies. Maybe even a little propane stove to make Jiffy Pop.
As his friends made their excited plans, Christopher looked back at the clearing. He saw deer poking their heads through the bushes. Grazing on the last patches of green before the winter threatened to starve them. He listened. There was no sound. No wind. Just a steady pouring of snow from the clouds in the sky. Christopher saw that the cloud face was back. Smiling and drifting as it dropped snow on him like cotton candy. The snow was so thick, it covered all their footprints.
As if they were never there.
“Come on, Chris. Close the door. It’s freezing,” Special Ed said.
Christopher turned back to his friends. But not before staring at the white plastic bag, which had been silent all day. He looked at it, hanging on the low branch. Waiting patiently. Then, he stepped his foot over the doorframe and entered the tree house. Christopher knew the minute he closed that door, he would have his proof. Either he was crazy, or there was something on the other side. Either there was no nice man, or he was about to meet him in person.
“But what does the tree house do?” he had asked the nice man once.
you’d never believe me. you’ll have to see it for yourself.
Christopher closed the door.
*
After a moment, a small bird landed on the doorknob. It looked around at the deer slowly crawling in a circle toward the tree house. Each step in unison. The bird did not like things it was not used to seeing, so it flew away. It flew up through the snowflakes and freezing air. It flew up past the tops of the trees and kept going higher and higher until it had reached the bottom of the clouds that looked like faces.
Then, it turned.
The bird looked back down at the earth. It saw the woods, the snowy white clearing with the deer, and the little tree with the tree house. And if it had words to describe what it saw, it would have sworn that it looked like a stark white iris with brown flecks and the black pupil of…
A giant eye.
Part IV
Seeing Is Believing
Chapter 34
hi. how are you? are you okay? don’t worry. just breathe. you’ll adjust. just remember a couple of things. are you listening? calm down. i know you can’t see. you’re not blind. you’re passing to the imaginary side.
your friends are not with you. they still think you’re with them on the real side. but you are not alone. i am waiting for you. i will never let you come in here alone. i am your friend forever.
oh, god. you’ve passed through. get ready. you can do this, christopher. I know you can do this. there. that’s the doorknob. you’re about to see. please remember something. i will do everything i can to protect you. but if you die in here, you die on the real side. so, whatever happens, don’t ever come in here if i am not there to meet you. never come in at night. and if we ever get separated, don’t leave the street.
she can’t get you if you don’t leave the street.
Chapter 35
Christopher opened his eyes.
At first glance, everything looked the same. He was standing in the tree house. He was still in the clearing. The snow was on the ground. For a moment, he thought he was just a crazy kid in a tree house listening to a figment of his imagination.
Except for that smell.
When he went into the tree house, the air was winter cold. The kind of freezing that made his nostrils stick together. But when he opened his eyes, the air smelled sweet. Like cotton candy.
“Hey, guys, do you smell that?” he asked.
No response.
“Guys?” he repeated.
He turned and almost screamed. Because sitting there, right next to Special Ed, Mike, and Matt, was his own body. Christopher watched the four boys sitting cross-legged, rubbing their hands together for warmth. He called out to them, but they could not hear him. He waved his hand in front of their eyes, but they didn’t even blink. They were busy making plans about what furniture they could bring to the