Mom
What do you mean? You’re at school, right?
Charlie
No. I’m lost. A woman picked me up at lunch.
Charlie
She looked just like you.
Charlie
She said she was taking me somewhere special.
Mom
Oh god! Where are you now??
Charlie
I don’t know. It’s dark.
Charlie
She took me to a basement and went upstairs.
Charlie
I guess she thought I wouldn’t have a phone, so she didn’t check my pockets.
Mom
Wait a minute, Charlie. I’m calling the police and the school.
Mom
Aunt Marie’s here and we’re going to the school now.
Mom
She’s driving, so you can keep texting me, OK?
Mom
The police are meeting me at the school. Then we’ll start searching for you together.
Mom
It’s going to be OK, I promise. We’ll find you.
Mom
But you need to tell me everything you remember about the woman.
Charlie
I already told you, she looked just like you. Except…
Mom
What about her eyes, Charlie? What color were they?
Charlie
Like there wasn’t anyone inside the woman.
Mom
What? Honey, where were you when she took you?
Charlie
It was recess. I was playing hide and seek with Aiden and Bella.
Charlie
I was hiding in the bushes near the fence.
Charlie
Aiden was being really mean, and he picked up a rock.
Charlie
He threw it at me, but he missed.
Charlie
I fell, and that’s when the woman called out to me from the bushes.
Mom
The woman was in the bushes??
Charlie
She was on the other side of the fence.
Charlie
I heard her say my name.
Charlie
She called me Champ, just like you do.
Charlie
She told me she had a surprise for me.
Charlie
That’s when she took me to the basement.
Mom
Did she drive you there?
Charlie
All I remember is taking her hand, and then I woke up here.
Charlie
I’m really sorry, Mommy. She looked just like you.
Mom
It’s OK, Charlie. We’re going to need your help to find you, though.
Mom
Can you hear anything?
Mom
Is there anything around you that might help us figure out where you are?
Charlie
Someone’s whistling.
Charlie
Upstairs. I hear whistling. But I don’t know the song.
Charlie
I thought I heard…I thought I heard Dad.
Charlie
He was talking to the woman. He asked if she knows where he put his wallet.
Mom
It’s just your imagination, Charlie. Dad died two years ago.
Charlie
But he sounded so real. And now…
Charlie
Someone’s playing the piano. Except it doesn’t sound right.
Charlie
It’s like the broken piano we used to have with the missing keys.
Mom
OK, listen Charlie. I want you to see if you can find a way out of there.
Mom
Did you check the door?
Mom
Are there any windows?
Charlie
I don’t think so. But…
Charlie
I just shined the phone light at the wall and saw a small hole.
Charlie
I think it’s big enough for me to get through.
Mom
Can you see inside it?
Charlie
It’s long and dark, but I think there’s a little light at the very end.
Charlie
Wait, I think Dad’s voice is coming from the light!
Charlie
The woman’s unlocking the door upstairs.
Charlie
I think she’s coming down here.
Mom
Go into the hole, dear.
Mom
Try to stay quiet. It’s going to be OK.
Charlie
I put an old box in front of the hole so the woman can’t see me.
Charlie
She’s singing. She’s singing Happy Birthday.
Charlie
Her voice is getting closer. I think she knows where I am.
Charlie
She stinks, Mom. I can smell her from in here.
Mom
Stay away from her, Charlie.
Mom
Go toward the light. It might be a way out.
Charlie
She just moved the box and I can see her face.
Charlie
She doesn’t look like you anymore.
Mom
Charlie? What happened??
Charlie
She looks like Great Grandma just before she died.
Charlie
You know how her skin looked like it was dripping off her face?
Charlie
And her singing…it’s so loud.
Charlie
She’s staring at me through the hole.
Charlie
Smiling. Her teeth are yellow and pointy.
Charlie
And she keeps singing Happy Birthday over and over.
Mom
Get away from her, Charlie.
Mom
Go to the light. Try to get out of there.
Charlie
OK. I think she’s gone. But there are others here now.
Charlie
There are lots of tunnels here, each one leading to different basements.
Charlie
I can see inside some of them.
Charlie
People…just like me. Little boys and girls. But older people, too.
Charlie
I don’t think they’ve seen the tunnels leading out yet.
Charlie
Should I try to help them?
Mom
Can you still see the light?
Charlie
Yes, it’s getting closer.
Mom
OK, don’t worry about the others now.
Mom
As soon as you’re out, the police will go get them.
Mom
Just hurry to the light, OK?
Mom and Aunt Marie arrive at the school.
Principal Waldon and Police Officer Holt are there waiting for them.
Officer Holt
I’m Officer Holt with the Lancaster Police Department.
Officer Holt
Please come with me.
Mom and Aunt Marie follow Officer Holt through the school field.
Principal Walden shows them the bushes where Charlie disappeared.
There’s small blanket covering something.
Officer Holt
I’m sorry to tell you this, Ms. Evans, but your son is dead.
Officer Holt
Apparently, he was playing hide and seek with some friends when he fell and hit his head.
Mom
That’s impossible — I’ve been texting Charlie for over twenty minutes now.
Mom
He’s in a basement, but he’s trying to get out.
Officer Holt pulls back the cover, revealing the body of a young boy with a gash on his head.
Just then, her phone dings with another text.
Charlie
Mommy? Mommy, are you there?
She quickly texts him back.
Mom
Charlie, where are you??
Charlie
I’m not in the basement anymore. I’m in the tunnel.
Charlie
I’m going toward the light, just like you said.
Charlie
Mommy, it feels so warm and so good. I’m so sleepy…
Mom
Charlie…oh Charlie. But you’re…
Charlie
It’s OK, Mom. I want to go there.
Charlie
I’m just so tired…
Charlie
Dad’s here. So are Grandma and Grandpa. I can hear them…
Suddenly, Charlie’s mom understands what the light is.
She can’t lose her son just yet.
She isn’t ready for her son to go to heaven.
Mom
Charlie, no! Listen, can you hear my voice?
Charlie’s mom grabs her son’s body and starts shouting his name.
She shouts it, over and over again.
Charlie
Mommy, I can hear you. You’re barely there, but…
Charlie’s mom keeps shouting at Charlie’s body.
Mom
Charlie, follow my voice!
Mom
Come back to Mommy, Charlie!
If you weren’t looking for it, you’d miss it…
But Charlie’s mom sees it right away.
Charlie struggles to sit up.
Charlie’s Mom smothers him in a hug and a million kisses.
Mom
You found your way home.
