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I don’t say anything. I simply nod.

That’s all my parents need. They’ve always been strangely good at understanding the things I don’t know how to say.

Mom gives me one more kiss before grabbing my hand and Dad gives Dr. Nudo a curt nod before guiding us toward the exit.

We’re finally going home.

The instant we step outside, cold air brushes against my cheeks. Holding onto Mom’s hand tighter, I tilt my face toward the sky and watch a snowflake melt against my white glove.

It’s beautiful.

But in an instant it’s gone.

Then a strange warmth prickles at the back of my neck as if I had eyes on me.

Glancing across the street towards the spot where I last saw the boy, I find it empty. Only torn black trash bags remain slumped against the cracked wall. There’s no lonely boy.

No trace that he’d ever been there at all.

The ache inside my chest sharpens.

Crack.

The feeling spreads through me like wildfire running beneath ice.

Ugh.

Maybe Dr. Nudo is right.

Maybe something in my head really is broken.

“Oh, look how beautiful…” Mom’s voice drifts through my thoughts, and I follow her gaze.

The world shifts for the second time that night.

A little girl with bright, curly red hair spins across a frozen pond of silver and light. Her strawberry-print hat bounces with every turn, and her matching scarf trails behind her as she twirls clumsily.

She laughs so loudly that she nearly falls on her face.

But she catches herself at the last second.

Above her, thousands of tiny white lights glow against the night. Their reflections scatter across the ice until the pond looks less like a skating rink and more like a mirror reflecting the stars.

For a moment, the girl with the strawberry hat doesn’t look as though she’s skating.

She looks like she’s flying.

Mom keeps talking about how adorable she is, but her voice gradually fades into the background.

Something else is happening.

A strange pull begins deep inside my chest and spreads through me.

This place means something.

I don’t know what.

I only know that being here makes me feel as though I belong.