Luke and his father had fought again , and Luke stomped up the stairs and slammed his door , leaving his father in the kitchen , red - faced and upset . He had been an angry child since he was very young , and anger turned into explosive rage over the years . His parents both tried to calm him . They researched theories , read books , talked to professionals . Nothing helped , and now , at eleven , Luke was impossible . Counseling seemed to help when Luke could be convinced to participate , and medication improved his behavior when he could be convinced to take the pills , but neither was a panacea and even during those periods of calm , his parents were so exhausted from the storms that they barely functioned during the lulls . " Don 't say such things , Matthew . He 's our son . It 's up to us to show him all the good things , to help him work through the anger . " " Seriously , I don 't think I have what it takes for him . Why is he so angry all the time ? If he hates it so much here , why doesn 't he just go ! " That night , Matthew could not sleep . He lay in bed staring at the ceiling . The house was deathly silent . He stared at the alarm clock across the room on the desk as the minutes ticked by . 11 : 57 . 11 : 58 . 11 : 59 . Then midnight . He looked over at Jenny , fast asleep . He closed his eyes , but the more he thought about sleep , the more elusive it became . If anything , he grew more restless . When he opened them again , the moon had reached their window and cast everything in a pale bluish glow . He glanced at the alarm clock again . Still midnight . God , he thought to himself , it was longest minute of his life ! He thought about the previous afternoon , the arguments , the yelling , the explosive rage . Tomorrow he would do better . Tomorrow he would work twice as hard to improve their relationship . Jenny was so much better at it than he . They had reached every goal they had wished for themselves , financially , socially , career - wise - the only thing missing was a proper relationship with their son . He looked over at the clock again . Still midnight ! The clock must have frozen . He quietly sat up , swung his legs across to the floor , and crept toward the clock . The colon between the numbers was still pulsing . Strange . That was when he heard the noise . It came from the hallway . It was the sound of stone against stone , a scraping sound . Strange . He looked over at his closed bedroom door . There was an eerie red light coming from the other side . He stood and walked slowly toward the door . The scraping stone sound stopped but the light grew brighter . He grasped the doorknob , finding it very cold . He turned the knob , slowly opened the door and left his bedroom . There was nothing in the hallway . The red light was coming from Luke 's room . The door was cracked , and the light was very bright . What did he do now ? Start a fire ? Matthew thought . He heard a soft thud , then a scream . The sound of his son screaming snapped him out of his late night fugue and he ran toward the room . He pushed open the door and his jaw dropped . In the middle of Luke 's bedroom floor , the carpet gave way to flagstone , and in the middle was a round hole about the size of a sewer grate . It was the source of the red light . Steam floated up from the inside , as well as a vibrating hum . Luke was in his bed grasping the sheets , a look of horror on his face as he stared into the hole . The sheets had Pokémon characters all over them and the creatures looked garish in the red light , like minions from Hell . As Matthew watched , the hold appeared to grow wider , brighter , and then seemed to almost take a deep breath . He could feel the pulling from the doorway , and he grabbed the doorjamb . Luke screamed as the hole sucked his bed several inches closer . One of his pillows lifted from the bed and whooshed into the hole and disappeared . Another pulse sent the bed scraping across the flagstone another inch . It was sucking him in . Matthew clutched the doorjamb with one hand and reached out with his other toward his son . Luke reached out , and Matthew could feel the sucking power pulse even harder , as if in response to his attempt to save his son . Terrified , he retracted his arm and grabbed the bed . As Matthew watched , the bed inched closer to the hole . Luke looked from his father to the hole , too scared to move . Then to their horror , Luke 's legs lifted off the bed , and he hovered for a moment , horizontal above the mattress . Only his hands were in contact with the mattress , clutching the corner . It was futile . One moment he was there , screaming , and the next , he was gone . Matthew could feel the vacuum as it sucked Luke off his bed and down into the hole . Matthew screamed Luke 's name , and without thinking , let go of the doorjamb . He stood a moment , waiting for the power to suck him down , but whatever power had taken his son seemed to have no effect on him . He took a step toward the hole , then another , and finally , his toes against the ledge , he looked down . The hole contained too much steam for him to gauge its depth , and revealed only the slowly dimming red light . There was no sound from within . As he watched , the hole begin to shrink , and he heard the same scraping sound of stone on stone . He shut his eyes for a moment , then stepped into the hole . He felt warmth , felt the air whooshing by him as he fell , then felt nothing at all . Matthew opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of their bedroom . The sheets were all rustled about him and Jenny was gone . She must have already woken up and is downstairs making coffee . He looked over at the alarm clock and was surprised to see that it still read midnight . Great , he thought to himself , clock 's broken . He sat up in bed and stretched and yawned . What a terrible dream , he thought to himself . He stood , still shaking the cobwebs out of his head . He walked over to the dresser and looked at his watch . It also reported midnight . He stared at the watch a moment , confused . Sunspots ? Electrical storm ? What in the world ? It felt late . He walked into the bathroom , showered , dressed . He would call the office on the way in and let them know he would be late . He grabbed his suit coat and his watch and headed for the stairs . Coffee . He needed coffee . Jenny wasn 't in the kitchen . Usually he smelled coffee when he walked in . This morning the kitchen was silent , empty . He realized then , he hadn 't heard the constant arguing with Luke over getting up , getting dressed , eating breakfast . The medication , when he took it , affected his appetite , so eating was yet another source of argument . " Jenny ? " he called out . No answer . He shrugged , started making a pot . It must be later than I thought . Why didn 't they wake me up ? How did they get out without me hearing them ? He tried to think back on their usual nightly conversation about her work schedule . She doesn 't have any meetings . Is she walking the dog ? She never walked him this early ! He opened the refrigerator , saw Luke 's lunch still inside . He looked at the clock in the microwave , saw it also was broken , and cursed . Did the bus come already ? He stood in his bedroom a moment , confused . Luke was gone , Jenny was gone , and Luke 's lunch was still in the refrigerator . Matthew pulled his cell phone from its charging cord and started texting his wife but the text failed to send . His phone reported no signal . He stared at his phone for a moment , confusion becoming panic . Something wasn 't right . A minute later he was in the garage , getting into his car . He turned the key , saw the clock in his dash was flashing midnight , and tried to start the car , expecting the worst . It started . He immediately shoved it into gear and backed out of the driveway . He raced down the street , toward the entrance to their neighborhood . He came to a stop at the red light , anxious , ruminating on Luke and Jenny , the lunchbox in the refrigerator . It occurred to him then that even Lucy , their dog , was missing . After a while he looked both ways and realized he hadn 't seen even one car . Maple was a busy street . Where was everyone ? He stared at the red light , beginning to feel anxious . The light never cycled this slowly , he thought . He looked both ways one more time , then gunned the accelerator and sped through the intersection . As he drove up the empty street he thought to himself , but where should I go ? He looked down to confirm his mobile phone still had no signal . The sun was well above the trees , which meant it was at least 9am , maybe later . Where are all the cars ? Their suburb was only a few miles outside Washington ; there was always traffic . He began having terrible thoughts , worst case scenario thoughts , and pulled to the side of the road to turn on the radio . There was nothing but static all the way across the dial . He felt pressure all around him . His head began to throb . His fingers felt numb . He had heard of people having panic attacks , and wondered if that was how they felt . He took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down , to think logically . Her office was on the way to Luke 's school . He would go there first . Now , with a destination , he squealed his tires and re - entered the street . He was there within ten minutes , a trip that normally took Jenny over a half hour . The parking lot was empty and he parked beside the door across two handicapped spots . The lobby door was unlocked and he ran inside into a deathly quiet building . All the suite doors were locked . The complex was built with glass panels on either side of the doors , and he saw no movement within any of them . He turned in a full circle , seeing and hearing nothing . He had seen no one since he woke up that morning . The world had gone silent . It was as if the entire human race had vanished . Surely there was an explanation , something that made sense , but all he could do was panic . This must be a dream , he thought . It 's a terrible , vivid , lucid dream . Then he remembered his dream from earlier in the night . That one was very real , too . Maybe I 'm going crazy . He thought about all the stress he had been under , trying to do right by Luke while balancing all the responsibilities of his career , his marriage . Maybe the emotional toll was more than he realized . Maybe I 'm falling apart . Yet he didn 't feel that way . He didn 't feel like he was coming apart at the seams . He felt stressed , emotionally drained , but still sane , still in control . Was this my body 's way of warning me that I had pushed things too far , that a break was coming ? He walked slowly back to his car , trying to keep it together . Next stop , Luke 's school . Luke 's school was only a few miles away . He was there in minutes . Still not one car . Where was everyone ? This time he parked in the bus lane directly in front of the school and jogged up the stairs . The doors were unlocked . Inside there was silence . He walked down the linoleum - tiled halls , the only sound his footsteps . As he walked those halls , he thought to himself , this is no dream . It is too real . What is happening ? He felt very warm then , and collapsed into a bench in the hallway just outside the gymnasium . It was the proper size for elementary school children , but for him it was too small and hurt his back . He shut his eyes and took a deep breath . Then he heard something . It was splashing water . He listened carefully , and confirmed it sounded like a swimming pool . He stood slowly , his knees creaking as he stood . The sound was coming from the gym . He pushed open the double doors , and stared . Inside , the floor of the gymnasium was gone , replaced with a swimming pool . All along both sides , children were standing still , dressed in swimsuits and swim caps . They were frozen , as if they were statues . One child was swimming from one side to the other , quietly , while the others stared straight ahead . There were no adults to be seen . He took a step inside , felt the warm humid air . It was no illusion . The child swam to the other side of the pool , then kicked off and began the trek to the other side . Still , the remaining children looked straight ahead . When the child made it to the other side , he climbed quietly out and resumed his position beside two other children . He did not move again . The child beside him seemed to shake out of his frozen state , and he dove into the pool . He began to swim . Matthew slowly walked toward them . None seemed to acknowledge his presence . Matthew approached the line of children , reached out an uncertain hand toward the first child in line . His hand landed on his shoulder , and traveled right through , as if he were an illusion . He tried to touch the next child , but again , he felt nothing . The image of the second child wavered a bit as his hand passed through , but nothing else . He took a close look at the child 's face , but it wasn 't familiar , which didn 't necessarily mean anything ; Jenny usually took Luke to his after school activities because of Matthew 's work commitments . The child looked vaguely familiar , but it wasn 't Luke . He was completely at a loss as to what was happening . He began to walk around , looking carefully at each child . They all appeared to be around the same age as Luke . He walked past the second child , then stopped , backed up , and scrutinized his face . He looked exactly like the first child . Walking along the line , he realized they were all the same child . Matthew inspected each one , and then about a third of the way across the line , he found him . Luke was there , wearing the goggles they bought him for swim lessons the year before . He complained constantly about swim practice , and eventually refused to attend . He wasn 't a very good swimmer as a result , and Matthew saw that there were only about three more swimmers before it would be his turn . He tried to grab Luke 's shoulders , but his hands passed through just like the others . Matthew just stared for a moment , then stepped out in front of Luke , who still stood with his eyes forward , hidden behind his tinted goggles . He had no reaction to his father 's presence . Matthew tried to shake him again , to no avail . He screamed , a loud , primeval scream of rage , one that echoed across the terrible acoustics of the gym , but it did not so much as rouse a facial tic on a child 's face . He stepped through the image of his son and collapsed onto the bleachers . He watched the kids as they did their mindless swimming , and when they got to Luke , he dove in just like all the others , began his slow , methodical stroke across the water . Then he returned and emerged from the water . Matthew noticed as he emerged that he was completely dry . Matthew continued watching them until they reached the end of the line . At that point , the sound of a whistle came from nowhere in particular , and the first child on the far end began once more . Matthew couldn 't take it anymore . He approached Luke one more time , passed his arm through him , whispered that he loved him , and stood behind him . Matthew waited . The clock on the far wall reported midnight just like all the others , so he had no idea what time it was . He watched the children jump , one after the other , swim out and back , then emerge , completely dry . When would it end ? As time passed he reflected back on his dream the previous night . Perhaps this was all part of his dream . He wondered what it would take to wake himself up . He pinched his leg , which hurt , but triggered nothing else . He smacked his head on the bleachers , which only gave him a headache . Then he stood , walked through the line of kids , and jumped into the water . When he landed , he hit nothing but parquet wood . The visual of the pool was there , but he was standing on the gym floor . The entire picture was nothing but an illusion . A very real , very vivid illusion . He walked across the water and back to his spot on the bleachers . It seemed like hours passed , but the clock remained stuck on midnight . As he stared , he realized the second hand was still moving , but the other hands were frozen . He wondered whether it would ever end . His mind wandered as he waited for something to happen . He thought to himself that if Luke were here with him , he would be staring at the clock , counting the minutes , then counting the number of letters in the word minute . Luke often counted the number of letters in each word he heard . It became a terrible distraction for him at times , which contributed to his anxiety and short temper . It was one of the many triggers that would send him into a tailspin . Matthew leaned back and closed his eyes , deep in thought about his son . Suddenly the splashing sound stopped . Michael jumped to his feet and found himself in an empty gym . No pool , no kids . They were all gone . He panicked again and ran for the exit . The halls were all empty . It was still daylight outside , and he wondered how long he had been inside . Now what ? , he thought . He wandered the halls until he came upon a large map posted on the wall . He traced the corridors with his finger until he found the fifth grade wing . There were similar maps on each corridor and he checked each one as he passed to make sure he was on the right track . He had never been to Luke 's classroom ; his wife Jenny was always the one to attend any classroom functions . He vaguely remembered the name of his teacher , and hoped he would know it when he saw it . He went downstairs and turned a corner and came upon hallway 9 , the fifth grade hall . He walked slowly past dark classrooms , doors shut , with nameplates identifying each teacher posted to the side of each door . He finally came across a nameplate that said Ms . Henry . That sounded right . The classroom was dark . He walked along the hall outside the classroom ; posted in disordered rows along the wall were self - portraits the children made . Each child had signed their work . Some were headshots , with big , lopsided smiles . Some were whole body drawings , portraying children in fields filled with animals , a large yellow sun in the sky . One boy drew himself as some kind of winged creature with five legs . Toward the end he found Luke 's drawing . It was a close - up drawing of himself . It was strikingly accurate ; Matthew could have recognized the face without Luke 's name on the bottom . Matthew stared at the portrait a long time . Luke 's was the only portrait with the eyes turned away from the camera . They were looking down and to the left . His mouth was closed and expressionless . There was no background , and no color except for the eyes , which he colored bright blue . Matthew stared at this portrait a long time . That 's exactly what he looks like every morning , and I never noticed it , he thought to himself . Why have I never noticed him this way ? Luke had drawn in the top of his collar , and part of his neck , and Matthew noticed he had drawn in the very top of a necklace , just the tiniest part of something . And on that tiniest of pieces , he had added the slightest bit of turquoise . Matthew stared at that tiny splash of color for a long time . About a year ago , Matthew had to travel overseas on business . While he was there , he purchased a necklace from a street vendor . The necklace was black leather and held a crystal made of what the vendor swore was real turquoise . Matthew hadn 't noticed Luke wearing it for the longest time . Jenny told him Luke lost it soon after receiving it . But there it was . He took a step back and looked along the wall , at all the portraits together . Above them all was a poster upon which the teacher must have written the words " ME , A Self Portrait . " Matthew looked at Luke 's portrait , surrounded by all the happy faces of his classmates . Suddenly , the rectangular window in the classroom door filled with light . He looked inside and found the classroom full of children . He opened the door and stepped inside . The children were all paying attention to the chalkboard , each with pencils in their hand , each with blank sheets of paper on their desks . They all looked the same . He stepped further inside the classroom and tried to wave his hand through one of the children . His hand passed through , but hit the desk . At least something was real . He located Luke in the middle of the classroom , the one face that was different . He was staring at the board just like all the others . Their faces were expressionless , emotionless . They were like statues . He stood there for several minutes waiting for something to happen . Then he had an idea . He approached the chalkboard , turned to the class for a moment , then picked up some chalk . He wrote Luke 's name on the board . None of the children moved a muscle . He returned to the board . I love you Luke . If you can see me , if you can hear me , I love you . Still , no one moved . He looked to see whether any of their eyes had even registered him or the writing on the board , but they were frozen . He screamed and threw the chalk against the far wall where it broke with a tiny cracking sound . He took a step backwards and landed hard against the teacher 's desk . He sat back on it , and tears welled in his eyes . He felt futility , frustration , panic , loss , all at once . He remembered feeling the same emotions at home , when things were normal . He slowly stood and walked back toward Luke . He looked at him quietly , searching his face for some recognition . He was at a loss how to reach him . Then he saw the writing . He tried to grab his son again , but his hands passed effortlessly through him once more . He looked around , frantically looking for a way to communicate with him , then ran back toward the chalkboard . He found another piece of chalk and began writing furiously . Where are you ? How can I get you out of here ? What is happening ? He ran back to Luke and looked down at his paper . At first , there was nothing but those two words but as he watched , his writing appeared all at once , like when Matthew was a kid and he made " secret ink " out of lemon juice , wrote secret messages , then held the paper over the toaster until the words appeared . I fell into a hole in my room and landed here . I 'm stuck . I don 't know where I am . Dad , I 'm scared . So it was true . It wasn 't a dream . We will figure this out . Be strong . I love you . I love you too . Matthew looked up from the paper into his son 's eyes . They were fixed and looking straight ahead , but the words that appeared on the paper said everything he needed . He hadn 't heard those words from his son in a couple of years due to his anger , his anxiety , his exasperating flare ups . Such a simple thing to say , words exchanged daily between him and his wife , but his son just didn 't have the capacity , or perhaps the ability , to utter them . There was just too much in the way . They had tried therapists . Doctors , psychologists , psychiatrists , medication , special diets . Although there were occasional slight improvements , his overall demeanor remained one of obstreperousness and opposition . One psychologist described it as internal noise , that it was impossible for Luke to be a normal kid because he was constantly distracted by this noise , under so much pressure from fighting this internal noise . If this is all real , Matthew thought to himself , I wonder if all that noise has been silenced . Maybe this is the real Luke , without all the distraction , without all that noise . He looked more carefully at his son , at the others . He noticed subtle changes then . The more he studied them , the more he realized the others were dimmed somewhat , as if the spotlight was on his son . The others seemed to be nothing more than background scenery on a movie set . Extras . Mannequins . He returned to the chalkboard , prepared to write some words of encouragement , but all of a sudden , the children and Luke disappeared . They just winked out , leaving him in an empty room , lights off , curtains drawn . He cursed loudly and stormed out of the room . He retraced his steps , passing Luke 's self - portrait . He made his way toward the exit , trying to figure out his next step . It was unlikely there would be another sighting at the school , he thought . He passed through the double doors of the school and jogged to the bus lanes . He reached his car , pausing to look over at the bus lanes . There were at least ten buses parked , and the ghost of an idea struck him . He looked down at his watch ; it still reported midnight , despite the sun in the sky . He jogged over to the first bus and stepped inside ; the doors of the buses were all folded open . He looked around and confirmed it was empty . He looked in the second bus . And the third . Then he got to the fourth bus and found it filled with children . He stood at the front of the bus , staring at the same expressionless children , none looking out the window , none in conversation . They were just there . He walked slowly toward the back of the bus and found Luke toward the back . They all seemed like photographs , three dimensional photographs . He came over and sat beside his son , directly on top of where one of the strange hologram children was sitting . Matthew looked around , wondering if there was a way to communicate with him . " Luke , maybe you can hear me , maybe you can 't . I don 't know what is happening here . I 'm trying to figure it out , I promise . " " I am sorry we haven 't seen eye to eye over the last couple of years . I just don 't know how to reach you sometimes . Maybe I haven 't tried hard enough . I forget that you have , well , that you have so much going on in there . You get so wrapped up with things . It makes it hard for you . I 'm doing the best I can to figure this out . Please be patient with me . " " Mom always says you can 't help it , that it 's how you were made . The medication was supposed to help but it doesn 't seem to really do anything , does it ? You 're just so angry all the time . I don 't know how to deal with it . " " Well , we will figure this out together . You and me . If you can hear me , know that I love you and I haven 't given up ! " Matthew sat there on the bus , his hand hovering over the spectral version of Luke 's , and after around a half hour , they all just vanished again . He got off the bus and walked back toward his car in front of the school . Still , he heard no traffic , no birds chirping , no dogs barking . Time had stopped . He considered everything he had seen and took an educated guess where he would next find Luke . He returned to his car and drove home . He drove through red lights and stop signs . There was no one else on the road . He parked in the driveway and came inside . He walked into the kitchen and found Luke sitting at the kitchen table , alone . None of the other images were present . He stood in the kitchen a while , just staring at Luke . This must be what it looked like when he returned home from school . Matthew was never around to see this part of the day , the part Jenny sarcastically called " the witching hour , " when he came home tired , hungry and crabby . Jenny always tried to have a protein rich snack ready for him . She would limit her communication with him as she gauged his demeanor , wondering whether it would be a good afternoon or another bad one . Usually they were bad . Matthew heard about these moments in stark , lurid detail after Luke finally went to sleep . He watched his son as he sat at the table , motionless , expressionless . Matthew 's eyes shifted down to the counter and he realized there was homework on the table . Was it part of the image ? He reached out and felt the paper and discovered it must have been there earlier . Luke just happened to be seated in front of it now . It was math homework , fractions . Luke did not do well with fractions . He was intelligent , for sure ; they had him tested . But math was difficult for him ; he was so easily distracted , he gave up so quickly , he got so angry . He stared at Luke , stared at the page , and wondered . He approached the counter and started going through the drawers until he found a pen . He sat beside Luke , and started writing on the paper . He wrote the message in between the math problems , printed , one letter below the other . As he waited , he saw more letters appear down the next row . Just as before , words written by an invisible hand . I can read it . I can hear you too . I heard you on the bus . Matthew was stunned . He wrote across the open space beneath the math . It 's hard to explain . I feel like I am only half way here , and the other half is locked away somewhere . One minute I am at school , then all of the sudden I am sitting on the bus , then all of the sudden I am home . I am moving , but you can 't see it . It 's like we are television stations on two different channels . His response filled the rest of the page , and he turned the page over , thankful it was blank . It occurred to him that he wasn 't even fully aware Luke had been studying fractions . He thought a moment , then scribbled out a response . I think there is someone else here but I can 't hear or see them . Someone just watching . He 's not bad , but I don 't want to be here anymore . It 's kind of like , kind of like he 's another version of me . A version that doesn 't get so mad . I want to be more like that . Dad , I 'm trying to be more like that . It 's just so hard . Dad it 's getting dark . And then Luke winked out again . Matthew yelled as loud as he could , a scream of rage , frustration , impotence . He stopped , caught his breath , and ran upstairs . He opened the door to Luke 's bedroom just as he winked into view in bed , his eyes closed . He glanced down at the carpet , confirming the stone floor and strange pit was gone . There was only carpet . And toys , and dirty clothes , all the things normally occupying the free space in Luke 's room . He had always been a messy boy . Matthew stood in the doorway , unsure what to do . The small clock in Luke 's room still read midnight . Outside the sun was past the zenith , creeping down toward the treetops . Matthew guessed it was around six . He worried about what would happen after dark . He walked in and sat at the foot of his son 's bed . He stared down at his hands . He began to worry about his wife , Luke 's mother . Where was Jenny ? Why wasn 't she part of this ? It seemed almost like a test . It almost reminded him of Dickens 's old story about Christmas . Then his mind stopped wandering . He thought carefully about everything . His son had been circling that pit for a few years , and Matthew just didn 't see it . Luke had been locked in his own world , filled with anger and anxiety , and beneath it all , fear . Jenny had told him numerous times about her conversations with the doctors , about his feelings , about how he was unable to control such things , how she was counseled to love the child she had , not the one she wanted . She had come to grips with it , but Matthew had only paid half attention to it all . He was so consumed with work . Perhaps this macabre day was a warning to him , a last chance for him to get it right . And it was working . " Luke , listen . I know I am always working , and there 's not a lot I can do about that . But I can do something about the rest of the time . We need to spend more time together . I will do my best to be more understanding when you are having a bad day . I will try to remember that it is usually beyond your control when the dark parts take over . I will do my best to keep an even keel even when you are unable to do so . I love you , kid . Wherever you are , get some rest , know that I love you , and , if all goes well … . Something tells me when you wake up , everything will be different . I think I understand what is happening here , and I know what it will take to end it . " He watched Luke sleeping , or at least appearing to be sleeping , and found himself unable to get up , to walk out . He pulled out his cell phone again , confirmed there was still no signal . He sat and waited . Sure enough , after a while Luke winked out again . He was gone . Matthew stood up . As he turned to go , he saw what appeared to be steam coming up from the carpet . He sidestepped around the center of the floor , back toward the doorway . The carpet began to melt , to grow hazy and disappear , to become stone . Then the stone began to flex away , to disappear , leaving a circular hole in the center . There was a red light emanating from within . He stepped up to the hole , saw Luke holding onto the edge , hanging on . Matthew crouched down , grabbed Luke 's arms , and pulled him up . They fell in a pile of dirty clothes , and Matthew held him tight , squeezed him . Luke squeezed him back . Then the entire room shifted , grew hazy , and he felt Luke become lighter , less physical . He screamed " no ! " and felt Luke disappear . He was left alone in his room , where it had grown very dark . Then he began to lose consciousness . He fought to stay awake , but something was happening to him and he felt like he was underwater . Then there was nothing . He found himself back in his own bed . The alarm clock in his room flipped to 12 : 01 . He was in a pool of sweat . Jenny was sleeping soundly beside him . It was pitch black outside . Matthew stood quietly and left the room . He walked toward Luke 's room down the hall and peeked in . Luke was in bed , sleeping . His sheets were all bunched at the foot of the bed and he was twisted in a position only children can sleep in . Matthew let his forehead hit the trim of the door , flooded with relief . Part of him wanted to rouse him and hug him , but decided against it . He would see him in the morning . He returned to bed . His alarm went off at 6 : 30 and he jolted awake . He jumped out of bed , waking Jenny , and ran out of the room . He found Luke still in bed , sleeping . He returned with a smile , finding Jenny sitting up in bed with a confused look on her face . Matthew took his phone from the charger , emailed his office to report he would be late for work , then went downstairs to make some breakfast . He thought about the dream , the details becoming hazy already as dreams were wont to do . He turned to find Luke standing at the entrance to the kitchen staring at him . Luke stared at the table , motionless , and Matthew followed his gaze , and saw that Luke had been staring at his math homework . There , in between the math problems , was handwriting . Matthew 's . And his . Their handwriting . Luke slowly looked up and they stared at each other . Speechless .