I sat silently and stared at my shoes while Mother spoke with the man with scary eyes wearing a dark coat.

“You have nothing to worry about, Mrs. Cole. I have seen many cases like your child’s and my treatments have proven quite effective.”

Mother gently ran her fingers through my hair. I could feel her worry. I hated worrying Mother.

“I read your pamphlet, Dr. Corialis. You don’t have to sell me on this issue. I just want Vin to get better. It was very generous of your facility to waive the price for us.”
“We try to accommodate as many low-income families as we can. Here at Glennbrook, we believe everyone has the right to get the help they need. We have plenty of funding and we cannot in good conscience take away what limited resources many families are plagued by these days.”

I don’t like his voice. It sounds dead.

Mother lightly took my chin in her hand and tilted my head up so I was looking at her. She was smiling, but she was sad at the same time. Tears were at the corners of her eyes.

“The nice doctor is going to take care of you, sweetie. Mother will be back in a week on visiting day. Be good for Dr. Corialis.”

I glanced at the expressionless man behind the desk before putting on my best attempt at a smile for Mother. She kissed my head before walking out with the doctor. 

I glanced around the strangely plain office. Mother’s office wasn’t this plain. She had pictures of me and Ken and Papa. There were no pictures in the doctor’s office. Just certificates, more than I could count. 

The doctor came back without Mother and sat in the chair next to me. I gazed up at his deeply lined face and attempted to smile again.

“You do not have to pretend to smile here, Vincent. You might want to practice that in the mirror a bit if you want people to believe you.”

I let my face relax which was oddly nice.

“Do you pretend to do other things, Vincent? Your mother tells me you make up quite interesting stories about your adventures in the woods. Can you tell me one?”

“They aren’t stories. They’re real.” The firmness in my voice was almost like listening to a stranger speak.

“Of course they are. She tells me you have magic powers. Can you show me those?”

I shook my head slowly. “No. Mother says I shouldn’t show them to people anymore. It scares them.”

“Do I look like I am easily scared?”

“That’s what Mr. Baker said before I broke a tree in half. Mother said he recovered from the heart attack, but I’ve never seen him again.”

He narrowed his dark eyes at me. “Are you threatening me, child?”

I shook my head rapidly. “No, no, no. I was just telling you about the other person that said that to me.” I looked down at my shoes sadly. “I don’t always break stuff.”

“What else can you do, then?”

I looked up at him with confusion. “You believe me?”

“No. I am merely trying to establish the depth of your disorder.”

“What?”

“I am trying to see what kind and how much help we can give you.”

“Oh. So, you think I’m lying too.”

“No. I think your mind is lying to you. What you describe is impossible, Vincent. Magic does not exist. There are not monsters behind your house and you cannot break a tree in half.”

I sighed heavily. “Why won’t anyone believe me?”

He rolled his eyes as he stood again. He pressed a button on his desk which made a sharp buzzing noise. “Cara, you can come to get the child now. I believe my evaluation is complete.” He sat in his chair and stared down at me. “Cara will bring you to your room and get you settled.”

The doors behind me opened and a pretty woman with long red hair moved to stand next to my chair. “You’re Vincent, right?” I nodded silently and she gave me a kind smile. “Excellent. I’m Cara and I’ll be your caretaker. Let’s get you settled, okay?” She offered me her hand. I glanced at the doctor before taking it and following her from the office. “Don’t mind the Doctor. He’s rough around the edges, but you won’t have to see him too much. Most of your treatment will be with me.”

I examined my surroundings as we walked, but there wasn’t much to see. Brightly lit hallways and closed doors made up most of the scenery. “This looks to be a dull adventure.”

Cara laughed. “An odd way to put that. Why do you call your stay here an adventure?”

“All of life is an adventure, Ms. Cara.”

“You can just call me Cara. That’s an interesting way to look at the world, Vincent.” She led me into the small room with a pair of chairs. There was an open doorway on the opposite wall and I could see a bed in there. There was a closed door that said washroom to the left of the entryway. “This is your room, Vincent. I know it isn’t much to look at, but we can fix that after a couple of art therapy sessions.”

“People use art as therapy?”

“Some people do, yes. Maybe you’ll be one of those people. It lets you draw things you might have trouble saying. Being able to see something makes it easier to understand.” She sat down in one of the chairs and I sat in the other. 

She started to untie one of my shoes and I jerked my foot away. “Whoa! Don’t untie those. I just figured out how to tie them and I don’t know if I can do it again.”

She sat back with another small laugh. “That’s understandable. I have to take your shoes, though. I actually have to take all of your clothes. There are new ones in your bedroom. I was just taking your shoes so you can go change.”

I crossed my arms and pulled both legs up onto the chair to cross them as well. “No way, lady.”

She gave me a shocked look, the smile gone for the moment. “I’m sorry this upsets you, Vincent, but rules are rules. Everyone gets new clothes while they’re at Glennbrook. I have to wear new clothes too.”
“That’s called a uniform. Adults have to wear uniforms. I don’t like uniforms. People in uniforms look sad or scary.”

“Which one do I look like I am?”

I gazed at her for several silent seconds. “Sad.”
“I don’t feel sad.”

I shrugged and played with my shoelaces. “Feeling and looking are different.”

“A fair point. But that doesn’t change the fact that you need to change into your new clothes. You don’t have to think about it as a uniform. We can make it more your style tomorrow, okay?”

I sighed before grumpily kicking off my shoes and going into the bedroom. I put on the clothes that looked more like sleep clothes than day clothes and brought her my clothes folded in a pile. “You’re not gonna throw away my clothes, right?”

She stood and took my clothing from me, separating me from everything I had. “I’ll make sure they’re taken care of for you.” She smiled down at me kindly. “It isn’t so bad here, Vincent. Relax in here and I’ll be back to go over what kind of therapies the Doctor thinks will work best for you.” The door closed after her, leaving me alone in my bare room.