It had a cold, blank stare that he couldn't get past. He knew very well that he shouldn't have been in there. The first time it was purely coincidence. He and Ed were playing hide and seek on a rainy day and he ran through the first doorway he saw, closing the door quickly afterward. When he turned around it was the first thing that caught his attention. There really was nowhere else to hide, since the cupboards were a little stuffed and the closet packed as well.
He climbed inside the iron man completely quiet. It would be awhile until Ed found him.
The second time he had a dream about it. He was looking at himself in the armor...moving around doing menial day to day things...but he couldn't escape from it. The third time had been the next morning and he couldn't stop thinking about it, so he went to take a good look at it. He was thinking How could I have possibl-
"AL! Honey where are you? Dinner is ready!"
And he didn't give much thought to it for a while.
"YOU GET EVERYTHING AL! AND MOM LOVES YOU BEST! THAT'S WHY! JUST GO AWAY I HATE YOU!"
The fourth time he and Ed had been fighting over whatever it is that young boys fight over. Al ran away from Ed with tears in his eyes and ran into wherever Ed wasn't. Tripping over part of a split floorboard, he fell on the ground, weeping. When it finally slowed down, he looked up and there it was again.
"Al! Sweetie where are you? Oh! Al...you know you're not supposed to be in your fathers' study!"
"Yeah I know mom-but- Ed..." He trailed off as the tears came again.
"Oh no, honey! Was Ed being mean to you again? Don't worry...mommy will take care of it..."
And time went on before the last time he would give it much more thought.
The fifth, and last time, was when it would become his body.