The Search for Artemis - By P. D. Griffith Page 0,22

sulking in the medical wing all day. And maybe the planned activities would get his mind off things. As he rose to his feet, his face winced. His shoulder felt sore and stiff even though Dr. Longfellow treated it the night before. Over the next half hour, Landon cleaned up and put on the clothes they provided: a new pair of dark denim jeans, a solid red t-shirt, and a brand new pair of white sneakers. As he sat at the table, waiting for Sofia to return, he stared at the plate of food.

The night before, he never even paid attention to the orderly as she brought him his dinner. At the time, he hadn’t eaten in over twenty-four hours and his stomach rumbled loudly when he smelled the hot food sitting on the table, but he had no appetite. The mere idea of eating had nauseated him. Now, true to form, his stomach began to resound with boisterous guttural gurgles and grumbles, and Landon couldn’t resist his abdomen’s command.

As Landon brought a piece of crisp bacon toward his mouth, the smell transported him back to his first day of school when he was five years old. After his mom got him ready, she sat Landon down at the kitchen table and laughed as Landon excitedly talked about all the things he was anticipating. All the while, the smell of bacon frying on the stove consumed the air. As he thought about it, he realized it was one of the few memories he had of her where she seemed truly happy.

With the first bite, Landon thought he was in heaven. As he chewed, he couldn’t help but let out a soft groan of pleasure. Afterward, his stomach paid no mind to his current emotional state. Instead, it drove him toward the plate, causing him to ravenously consume ever last morsel of food and drink the orange juice dry. If Sofia hadn’t knocked on the door, Landon would have moved over to the plate of cold food from the night before and devoured it just as fast.

“You ready to go?” Sofia asked after poking her head out from behind the door.

Landon stood up, still not uttering a word, and walked out of the medical quarters, following Sofia.

They walked briskly through the Gymnasium, not taking a moment to pause along the way. Unlike the day before, Landon paid no attention to his surroundings. He followed Sofia blindly, disconnected from the world around him. Eventually, after passing through a secured door, Landon entered a small room.

With beige walls, dark wood wainscoting and four rows of wood tables, it was nothing too impressive. Each table had along one side a set of four chairs with green leather cushions and a pair of brass desk lamps with green glass light shades. At the head of the room a large whiteboard covered the wall and tucked away in the corner was a second door.

Sofia ushered Landon into the room, telling him to sit wherever he liked and that she’d return with someone else who would also be attending the orientation. Landon walked up to the second table from the front and began to move down the row. He ran his hand along the top of the table, his fingers gliding over the grains of the wood. Before reaching the chair, Landon stopped abruptly and turned to Sofia.

“Do you know what they did with my clothes?” he asked her as she turned to leave.

“Your clothes?” Sofia asked, looking a bit surprised to hear his voice. It was the first time she heard him speak since the examinations. “Well, I believe we were going to throw them out. Why?”

“Can I have the jeans? I don’t care about the shirt, but I’d really like to keep the pants.”

“Well, typically we would dispose of clothes that looked like yours upon arrival,” Sofia said.

“Oh,” Landon replied, dejected.

“But, let me see what I can do. I’m not making any promises, but I’ll do my best to see that you get your jeans back.”

“Thank you . . . for everything,” Landon said and then turned around and sat down at the table.

Before leaving Landon alone in the room, Sofia stood against the doorjamb and stared at him for an extended moment, trying to figure out what was so different about this kid.

After about five minutes of Landon sitting patiently and looking off into the distance, Sofia returned with a girl around his age. She was tall and had long, wavy brown hair and