Jake was standing in the aisle staring at a shelf, with lots of toys on it. He really liked cars and trucks, but he was looking at a toy set with some little teddy bears having a picnic. It would be his birthday in a few days, his dad had told him. He really hoped he would get some new things to play with.

“Jake, come on, let’s go”

He ran to the end of the aisle, his dad was waiting with a shopping bag and his hand outstretched. They walked towards the door hand in hand, as his dad pulled him close and looked on with a gentle smile. Jake was lightly skipping when he saw the noticeboard in the window. It had posters and ads all over it, including one for a bouncy castle. Jake had never been on a bouncy castle, he had only ever seen them in the front yards of his neighborhood. He stopped in his tracks and scanned the board and all it’s posters. His squeezed his hand and lightly nudged him forward.

“Can I have a bouncy castle for my birthday, please, please dad?”

“I don’t think so, your birthday is only a few days away, I’m not sure we could organize it in time. I think it would too big for just the both of us anyway”

“I’ve always wanted to go on one, they look so fun, I seen the other kids jumping and jumping”

“I know, I know, maybe another time”

Suddenly he pointed to a poster at the top of the board, it was slightly obscured by other papers, but the picture was clear.

“Hey dad, that picture looks like me! It’s a funny looking drawing”

“I don’t really see it son, come on, let’s go”

They left the store and began to walk down the main street. Jake always held his dad’s hand in public and stayed close by, just as he was told. His favorite game was jumping over the cracks in the pavement and trying not to stand on them. Usually, his dad would let him do this on the way to the store but on the way back Jake would help to carry the groceries. He liked to carry the milk, he would swing it back and forth as he walked, sometimes pretending it was a rocket ship, flying them home. Jake had a great imagination and would often make up his own games and characters in stories. He would look at people that they passed and give them funny names like ‘Big Beard Mc Rucksack’ or ‘Old Blondey Hat’, when he got home, he would name his dolls after them and play with them.

It was the middle of the afternoon, they always went shopping at that time. The autumn leaves were in full bloom, the trees that lined the street were washed in yellows, reds and oranges. Jake would step on leaves and hope they had dried, then they would crunch beneath his feet, and he would stomp on to the next one. They had passed all the stores and were nearly at the end of the street. Jake loved this part; they were going to pass the school soon. He would look in at all the children laughing and playing, wondering what the games were. Sometimes he would think about some kids he saw, and they would be in his stories, and he would name the dolls after them.

“Dad, when am I going to be big enough to go to school”

“Well, you have school at home, remember, I can teach you everything”

“I know daddy, but there’s no other kids in our school, who am I going to play with”

“I’ll play with you, we can play picnic and play crash cars, don’t you like playing with me?”

“I do, I do, just sometimes… sometimes I want to play with other kids… kids like me”

“Okay, maybe in the summer, we can go to the park and find some other kids, maybe”

His dad gripped his hand firmly as they came up to the traffic lights. They crossed over the road and made their way towards a wide-open field that cut across the backs of the houses, and towards their own. Jake, when he behaved, was allowed to run in this field and his dad decided he could today. He handed his dad back the milk, and he put it into the bag. Then he took off, throwing his hands out and zig zagging through the long blades of grass. He imagined he was as fast as wind and light as a feather. His dad didn’t let him play like this often, so when he gave him some freedom Jake would make the most of it, running, jumping and skipping through the grass. As they came close to the other end of the field, his dad just outstretched his hand, and Jake returned to his side.

Their house was at the end of a street lined with homes on either side. It stood alone, separated from the others and sat on the curve at the end of the road. It was detached on all sides and had a garage at the rear that backed into the field. It had high walls but, in the front, a spiked picketed fence with a locked gate. They entered through the back into the kitchen, and his dad began to put the groceries away.

“Jake, go and get your books out, I’ll be in there in a minute”

“MORE class! but I thought I could play”

“We didn’t finish our lesson this morning, I’ll have work to do today, so you can play after, get your books”

He left the kitchen and dragged himself across the sitting room. He had really wanted to play outside with his dolls. He grabbed some books from the coffee table and set them on the old desk underneath the window. There was a lamp, a box of pens and an abacus on the desk. He walked over and turned on the lamp, illuminating the space, the curtains always stayed closed. His dad had said that people look into other people’s houses through their windows, because they were nosy. He didn’t want them seeing inside their house, so they never opened the curtains and always used lamps. The house was very dark all the time, that’s why Jake liked play time. He would swing open the door and run out into the yard with his dolls. It didn’t matter if it was cold or even raining, if dad said yes then Jake would go outside, whenever he could.

His dad entered the room and made his way over to a large chair that sat facing the desk. He would often sit behind Jake or stand over him during their lessons.

“Sums or reading, I will let you choose what we do first”

“Can I read my stories?”

“No Jake, I have told you, stories are not for learning, stories are for fun. You need to learn more about reading and writing”

“Do we have to do sums”

“Stop avoiding the work, choose now, or I will choose for you, come on”

“Okay, I’ll do the writing”

“Wonderful, let’s do the one we did yesterday”

“The one about the fox and the dog playing in the woods with the fairies, and the other kids”

“Jake, lets focus, that wasn’t it”

“Wouldn’t that be fun though, playing with a fox and a dog, I’d like to get a dog to play with.

“Please don’t make me get impatient, pick up your pen and start writing.

Jake had shifted around toward his dad but now was facing the window with his pen in his hand. He began to trace the words out along the page, again and again. Each time carefully drawing every letter slowly and precisely. He filled every line until he reached the bottom of the page and could not write any further.

“I’m done writing, I filled the WHOLE page”

“Okay then, read it to me”

“The q… qui.. quick b, b, br…brown FOX j,jumped over the la, la, lazy DOG

“Read it again, but don’t stutter on the words, read it slowly”

Jake sighed and re-adjusted himself in the chair, focusing in on the words. He knew his favorite words because they were dog and fox, but the others were just boring.

“The… quick…brown… FOX jumped… over the…. lazy…DOG!”

“Very good, now why are we writing this down?”

“For practice”

“Yes, but why this sentence”

“Oh, cause it has lots of letters!”

“Close, but more importantly, it has all the letters of the alphabet. So, you can practice writing each and every one, let’s move onto sums now.”

Jake slowly packed away his writing book and put his pen back into the box in front of him and started pulling the abacus closer. It was a large wooden abacus with metal rings on it, there were ten rows down and thirty rings on each row. His dad had told him that he made this abacus specially for him. Jake used to love the abacus, running the beads from side to side, making shapes and designs with it. Ever since they started doing sums, he didn’t have any fun with the abacus, it was boring, and all he could do was think of playing outside, with his dolls.

“Can we skip sums today, please”

“No Jake, come on, just a little more time”

“Its boring, I want to play, I don’t like counting”

“The things we find the hardest are the things we should work on the most, just a little longer”

“Okay, then I can play outside”

“Well, if you get this sum all right, then I will let you play outside for thirty minutes”

“Yay, okay, one sum”

“I want you to move three beads across on the first row and all the beads across on the last row, then fill in the rows in between with times tables”

Jake was more focused than ever, he had done this everyday this week, he didn’t like it, but he really wanted to go outside and play. He wasn’t good at counting or sums, but he was good at drawing and painting pictures. He remembered from the day before how the abacus was supposed to look and he started moving over rings, shifting them back and forth until he was happy. He sat back and looked over his shoulder at his dad, who was staring at him the entire time.

“Are you done?”

“I think so, yes, I am”

“Say the numbers for me, on each row and we can finish for the day”

Jake looked at the beads and thought about the numbers from the day before, he couldn’t remember them. So, he went row by row counting the bead as he slid it across, then proclaiming the final number. His father watched patiently as Jake took his time carefully completing the task. Finally, he came to the second last row and moved the final bead into place.

“27! Am I right, is it playtime, is it?”

“You were right, but I know you were counting the beads. That’s not how these sums are done, so tomorrow, we will do double sums”

“DOUBLE SUMS”

“Yes, now you can have thirty minutes outside, but I want you inside for dinner straight after”

Jake rose excitedly from the desk, leaving everything behind. He ran out into the hallway where there was an open wooden box full of different dolls and doll clothing. There was a picnic blanket rolled in a ball by the front door, so he grabbed it. Jake began to undo the locks on the door, there were quite a few. His dad had said this kept them safe. He burst out onto the front lawn, it was patchy and mostly unkept, but he lay down the blanket and began lining up his dolls.

Beardy Mc Rucksack and Old Blondey Hat were getting ready to go to a new school and Jake was going to go with them. This is the game he was playing and had imagined that he would go to school with his two new friends, where he would play all the new games, and meet all the other kids. Usually, Jake would like to imagine he had a dog too and his new friends were going to come by after school to meet him.

“Hello there” a call came from down by the fence

Jake looked around to see a familiar face, he had seen him just a few days before for the first time, then again, a few more times. He had named a doll after him, ‘Mr Greencoat’. He got up from the blanket and walked towards him. This stranger wore a green military coat and looked disheveled, his light hair was greasy and unkept, it seemed as though he had not washed for some time too.

“Hello” Jake said as he approached the fence

“Hey Kid, what’s your name”

“My names Jake!”

“What are you up to over there Jake”

“I’m playing games with my dolls; we’re going to go to school”

“School? Don’t you already go to school, why not go somewhere more fun”

“I wish I went to school; it would be so fun. I have school with my dad at home.”

The stranger leaned forward and began to prop himself over the fence, closer to Jake.

“How old are you Jake”

“Dad says I’ll be seven in a few days, and he says we’re going to have cake and he’s going to get me some new toys!

“Seven! How exciting, are you going to have a party?”

“Its just me and my dad, two people can’t have a party”

“You look a little older than seven Jake, you’re a big boy”

“I’m getting taller and taller; I can nearly reach the sky”

“Just you and your daddy here, no one else?”

“No, just me and my dad, he’s my friend too, and we play games and read stories, but I would like to have more friends”

“Maybe I could be your friend, we could go somewhere fun like down to the school, would you like that?”

“I’d love to go to the school! I named my doll after you Mr Greencoat, you were the bus driver for the school”

“I could take you there sometime”

Jakes dad came rushing from the house screaming at him.

“JAKE! Get over here”

Jake jumped and was filled with a sudden panic, as he looked back towards his dad. He turned and gave a small, scared wave to Mr Greencoat and then ran back up the garden towards his dad.

“Get in the house right away and go to your room” Jakes dad said as he grabbed the doll from Jakes hand

The stranger stood gripping the tops of the fence and staring at Jakes dad. A serious look had washed over his face, and he was trying to hold his tongue, as he watched Jake scamper inside.

Jakes dad turned his attention to the stranger. Pushing back his shoulders and adjusting himself, he walked calmly towards the fence.

“Do you mind telling me what exactly you were saying to my son”

The stranger folded his arms and relaxed himself onto the tips of the picket fence, looking up at Jakes dad towering over him.

“Hello to you to sir. I was just asking the kid if he knew where the closest store was”

“Why would a child have directions to a store, seems silly, if you ask me”

“Kids are smarter than you think, they pick up on all sorts of things. We were just talking, nothing wrong with talking is there?

“Nothing wrong with talking, but I’d rather you weren’t talking to my son, telling him stories”

“Oh sir, I told him no stories, and I told him no lies. You can lie to a kid, sure, but when they hear the truth, they’ll know it’s the real thing”

“Well, my kid doesn’t need to hear your truths, so why don’t you go tell someone else and leave him alone”

“Okay then, have a good day and tell Jake it was nice talking to him”

“You have a good day too but just so you know. Next time you talk to my son, we won’t be just talking.”

Jakes dad turned and walked back towards the house, collecting the blanket and toys along the way. He entered the house and furiously threw them onto the ground in the hallway. He turned to close the door, and the stranger was still there staring at him and leaning over the fence. The stranger lingered a little longer before slowly straightening up and walking away towards the main road.

Jakes’ dad made his way into Jakes’ room where he found him in his bed crying softly. He sat on the edge of Jakes bed and held his head in his hands for a moment before taking a big sigh and focusing in on Jake

“What were you thinking Jake, what were you thinking. You don’t know that man, WE don’t know that man, why would you talk to him. I have told you many times before, many many times, don’t talk to strangers. You don’t know what people want Jake, people are the worst, they are sneaky, dangerous, scary, liars. People smile in your face and then they hurt you, and you never see it coming Jake. You don’t need people son, you got me, you don’t need anybody else. I am here to protect you, but you have got to, got to promise not to talk to anyone that we don’t know. I am just trying to keep you safe, but I can’t do that if you don’t do everything, I tell you. Do you understand?”

Jake looked up, tears streaming down his face and nodded while burying his head into his dad’s chest and squeezing him tightly. They sat there for a few minutes until Jake was not crying anymore.

“I’m sorry dad, I love you”

“I love you too son, I love you too”

Jakes dad stayed to read Jake a bedtime story before turning out the lights and leaving him to rest up.

The next day was Jakes birthday and when he woke up he smelled pancakes. He rushed out of bed and into the kitchen where his dad had already piled high four pancakes and was still making more.

“Good morning birthday boy, would you like some pancakes?”

“Yes, Yes, Yes, I love pancakes”

Jake jumped up at the table and immediately started pouring maple syrup from a jug in the center of the table. His dad finished making another four pancakes and turned off the heat. He pulled out a chair at the table and sat down opposite Jake.

“I am sorry I got angry yesterday, Jake, I was just scared of losing you. It’s your birthday today so I have decided to skip our class this morning. I was thinking you could play outside, close to the house, for a little bit. Then later we can walk to the store and pick out a new toy, and a nice cake, what do you think?”

 

“I’m not going to get lost; I was just outside! Can we get ice cream too, please, please?”

“Yeah okay, we can get ice cream too, it is your birthday”

When Jake finished his pancakes, he immediately ran to his room to change into his clothes. When he came back out his dad was in the hall gathering up the dolls and the blanket from the corner, where they had ended up the day before. His dad undone the locks on the door and opened it wide, walking only a few steps out before putting the blanket down and placing the dolls on it. Jake came out of the house and began to rearrange and examine his dolls that had been treated so badly by his dad. His dad went back inside and returned with a deck chair, setting it up, just outside the front door. He sat down into it with his morning coffee, watching Jake as he played, and scanning the neighborhood.

Around an hour passed when Jakes dad began to get restless, he decided Jake would be okay if he went into the garage to work on one of his projects.

“Jake, I am going to go inside, remember what we spoke about yesterday. If anyone comes near the garden just come straight inside and close the door. Do you promise?”

“I promise dad, no strangers.”

Their house was on the end of the street, and it was surrounded by large trees and overgrown bushes. Shortly after Jakes dad went inside, the stranger emerged from the tree line, creeping low, in line with the picket fence. He watched Jake as he played and overheard him naming new characters and planning adventures, he smiled to himself, as he moved closer. In a sudden rush, the stranger ran up the side of the fence and jumped over it in one clean movement. He ran quickly up to Jake, grabbed his arm, and put a finger to his lip.

“Jake, it’s me, remember me. I need you to be very quiet and listen to me, it’s going to be okay, I promise”

Jake reeled back and pulled away, but the stranger tightened his grip, pulling Jake closer and looking back into the house in a panic.

“Listen Jake, I came to help you, to take you on adventures, you need to come with me, it will be okay”

“NO NO NO, you’re a stranger, let me go, let me go, my dad will be angry”

“I’m not a stranger, I’m not, it’s very complicated Jake, you need to trust me, I’m here to help you”

“I don’t trust strangers, I don’t trust anyone, only my dad!”

“You can’t trust him, you can’t, he hasn’t been telling you the truth.

“He has, he has, let me go, let me go, LET ME GO”

“Jake, the truth is, I am your dad. I have been looking for you a very long time and I have come to rescue you. This man took you from me and your mom a long time ago, your name was Kyle then. We have looked everywhere for you, and finally I have found you, and we can go home, and I can keep you safe”

“NO no, no, you’re not my dad, you’re a stranger, let me go, let me go. DAD! DAD! DAD!

“We need to go, come on, we need to.

Jake pulled and pulled but the stranger had run his hand under Jakes arms and lifted him up. He was dragging him down the garden and towards the tree line. Jake struggled in his arms and tried to break free.

“Kyle… Jake… it’s going to be okay. Once we’re safe I will explain everything, and we can go on those adventures.

They were near the fence when Jakes dad came running from the house holding a large steel pipe. The stranger looked at him and panicked, he was struggling with Jake and would not be able to defend himself. It was fight or flight and so he dropped Jake and immediately pulled a gun from his waistband and aimed it directly at Jakes dad. Jake ran straight for his dad, who had stopped right in his tracks, and was standing as still as possible.

“Not another step, you bastard!” screamed the stranger

“Please, my son, let him go, you don’t need to hurt him” Jakes dad said calmly

“Your son! Your son! He is my son!”

“You got the wrong kid, it’s okay, it’s okay, this doesn’t have to happen”

The stranger looked directly at Jake.

“Jake, this man is not your dad, I am your dad, you need to come with me, come on”

Jake buried his head between his dad’s legs and squeezed onto him as tight as he could. His dad pat him on the head and looked down at him before returning his attention to the stranger.

“You’re scaring my kid, can’t we all just relax and sort this out peacefully”

“Stop calling him your kid! You stole him from us six years ago, and here you are raising him as if he is your own. Well, he is not yours, he is my son, and your little fantasy is over, he’s going to come with me.”

“You got the wrong idea, he’s my son, and we’ve been living here since he was born, he can’t be yours, he’s mine”

“Its taken me all this time to find you, but I did, the house, the secret garage, the closed curtains, it’s you, I know its you. They might have given up, but I never did, I never will. I’m here for my son, for Kyle or Jake, it doesn’t matter. I’m here because I love him and because I’m his dad.”

 

Jakes dad took a deep breath and looked down at him for a few moments. When he looked back at the stranger, an empty and determined stare had come onto his face.

“You may be his dad, maybe but I am the one he loves. I am NOT losing this kid, not in this lifetime, so I guess you’re going to have to shoot me.”

Jake turned to face the stranger and threw his hands wide and high to protect his dad.

“YOU CAN’T! Not my dad, I love him, I love him, please don’t hurt him!”

The stranger just stared at jake as he put himself between them and pleaded, and pleaded with him

“He is my dad, and I want to stay here with him. I want to do my classes with him, even the sums. I want to play with him and have him read me bedtime stories, and make me pancakes. We aren’t hurting anyone Mr. Stranger, why are you trying to hurt us, please leave us alone!”

The stranger stood staring at his son, as he pleaded for the life of his kidnapper. All the truths he so desperately wanted him to see were lost in the innocence of childhood. The truth was what he had seen and nothing this stranger merely told him about. He had thought simply revealing the facts to this child would win him to his side, but it seemed to draw him closer to the villain. In his eyes he saw nothing but fear and desperation, not the love he had always wanted to see in the eyes of his own child. He would deliver him from the clutches of this maniac but even now, in the heat of this moment, he had wondered. Will this child ever love me as he as loved his captor, will he hold me so tight, and defend me so dearly. Perhaps he had been better off lost forever, so that the stranger may have never faced this reality. A world in which he removed the rose-colored glasses from his own child and revealed to him the dark twisted things that surrounded him on all sides. Where he must play the role of the stranger and the father.