Credit: Illustration: Mark Evans
The people come when I watch TV in my bedroom. I like Benny Hinn on the TV. Benny Hinn talks about love and Jesus and shepherds. Next comes I Love Lucy and I like it even better even though it has no colour.
Two people come in here while Benny Hinn sings a nice song about an old rock. I do not know the people. One woman and one man. They have white skin.
The man has red hair and the woman has black hair. They make noise. They smell scared. They do not look like the other people here. They wear cloth over their faces. I do not know them.
They speak so fast I cannot understand. They grab me. They hurt my arm. I say nothing. I go where they want. Scared animals are dangerous. They take me to the Big Door. I don't want to go with them any more. I don't want to go through the Big Door even if they do hurt me. Only people with bald faces go through the Big Door. I stop and squirm. They smell more angry.
The man shouts at the woman, not at me like I expect. He grabs me hard and the woman wraps me tight in a blanket until I cannot move my arms. Now I am scaredest. I scream.
The man picks me up. I cannot stop him. The woman opens the Big Door and we all go through. I should not go through the Big Door. It is only for baldface people. We go anyway. I scream all the way.
They take me out into the dark. The moon shines. I see the moon from inside and on TV, but not like this. It scares me more.
They put me in a white van. Raoul is already in the back. Raoul is tied up. Raoul has a bruise on his eye and a cut lip. He sits up. It is not easy for him. He is tied up and he groans when he moves. He is hurt bad, but I see him and it makes me calm. I stop my screams.
He says to me, "All OK, Jules. All OK." He says the calming words and he makes the calming sound. "Shush-shush-shush-shush." Usually he strokes my head when he says the calming sound, but he is all tied up and he cannot do that.
The white man puts his head in the doors and shouts at Raoul. "Shut up!" he says.
He takes out a gun. I see guns on TV. I know what they do. I get scared again and scream.
The white man shakes the gun at Raoul. He shouts at Raoul some more. "Look what you done!" He thinks I am scared of Raoul, but Raoul gives me food and talks to me. I am scared of the new man, not Raoul.
The white woman pushes the white man away. She gets in the back of the van with us.
She pulls down the cloth over her face so I can see her smile.
She is nice. She gives me an apple. My arms are stuck so she puts it in my mouth for me. I bite and chew. The apple makes me feel better even though I am not hungry. The woman makes funny shapes with her hands. I don't know why. She makes more funny shapes. I want to make funny shapes back to her, but my arms are stuck in the cloth.
The man goes to the front and starts the engine. He is dangerous. The woman is nice. The white man scares the woman too, I think. Maybe she helps me if I talk nice to her.
So I say to her, "Hello." She stares at me.
I say "Hello" again.
Her mouth drops. She shouts to the man. "He talks!" she says.
