“Michael, what happened?”

The boy’s eyes finally broke away from the darkness he had taken refuge in. He looked up at his father and in that instant Rick felt like the child, not the adult. Somehow he knew his son had experienced more than he ever would. He was forever scarred. The innocence had been stolen right out of him.

 “Nothing,” he whispered.

Rick and Eva exchanged looks as they decided which one of them was going to take charge. It was Rick who spoke first.

“Michael, that’s clearly not true. Now either some of the other children have hurt you or you’ve seen something you shouldn’t have, but whatever it is you need to tell us. We won’t be angry,” he added, wondering if it was a promise he could keep. But it was the truth. Anything Michael said could not anger him, only bring relief.

The young boy mustered all his courage, which was not much, and leaned into his father. When he spoke it was softly and so gentle Rick could hardly hear. “A man got me. He put something over my head. Then he took me inside.”

The words hung in the air like ghostly apparitions. Rick and Eva could not speak. Michael had only been gone a few minutes. And now he was back, seemingly unharmed. Even so, Rick couldn’t shake the feeling that their lives would never be the same again.

“A man?” said Eva. “Who was it?”

“I don’t know.”

“How do you know it was a man if you couldn’t see?”

“He was strong. Like dad. Stronger than me.”

“Did he hurt you?” Rick demanded to know, his blood boiling, his mind spiralling out of control. Michael remained silent, his stillness telling. “How did he hurt you, Michael?” Rick’s eyes began to search his son’s tiny, vulnerable body for signs of bruises or cuts. To his relief, there were none. Except for the mark on his palm he didn’t have a scratch on him. He didn’t want to think of the alternative, but he knew it was there. It had already happened. They were just postponing the inevitable.

It was Eva who faced the terrible truth head-on, braving the revelation and asked the one question Rick dared not birth.

“Did he touch you?”

The boy nodded.