Chapter 26

Feeling the warmth of the sun on his face, Dick wakes up slowly. Disorientated at first, the boy realizes that he fell asleep on the couch while watching a movie last night after the nightmare.

It felt so real, thinks the boy, I thought he was there with me. Shaking off the feeling, Dick gets off the couch and heads for his room to get a change of clothing.

Entering his room, Dick notices that only one of the curtains is drawn back.

That's odd, thinks the boy, walking over to the window and seeing that the curtain is not only open, but so is the window.

Examining the window, Dick notices a residue left on the inside of the glass. Rubbing his hand against it, Dick feels the stickiness of the film.

"Good morning, Master Dick."

Turning, the boy smiles wanly at the older man. "Hi Alfie." Turning his attention to the sticky mark on his window, Dick points it out to the older man.

"Do you know what this is?"

Walking over, the butler sees the sticky film left by the tape on the window.

"Why, no, Master Dick," lies the older man. "I don't know what that is, but don't worry, I'll have it cleaned up in no time."

"It looks like tape, or what tape would leave on glass," says Dick.

"I'm sure it's nothing," replies the butler, as he walks over to the bed to straighten it out.

Glancing at the older man, Dick takes one last look at the smudge before going over to his closet to pick out some clothing.

"I'd like to go to the park today," says the boy, selecting a pair of pants and a shirt. "Maybe do a little roller blading."

"Of course," replies the butler, as he finishes straightening the boy's bed. "You haven't been to the park in a couple of weeks."

"Yeah, since before…" but the boy stops talking, finding that he can't finish the sentence.

Stopping what he is doing, the older man walks over to the boy and places a hand on the boy's shoulder.

"It will get easier," says the older man gently. "It will take time, but it will get easier."

Nodding his head, Dick steps away from the older man and heads for the bathroom to shower and get dressed.

Taking one last glance at the mark on the window from the tape, Alfred makes a mental note to return quickly to wash the window clean.