Captain Kangaroo was conversing back and forth with both Mr. Green Jeans and Mr. Moose on the television while Isaac spoke in a low, overcast tone to his father over the phone.

Dressed in the same clothes from the night before, Isaac watched Isaiah crawl and romp about on the floor with his Fisher Price toy phone while he sipped away on his fourth cup of coffee for the morning. Isaac's mind was from the TV and drifting even further away from his son.

Every so often he would stare down at his scarred fingernails that felt as if someone had pierced each of them with sharp needles.

"Isaac, are you still there?" Mr. Mercer worriedly asked.

Shaking himself awake, Isaac replied, "I'm fine, dad. I just got a bad headache. Did the fuzz bring your car back yesterday?"

"Yeah, they brought it back last night. I think the carburetor needs replaced."

Just then, a long pause prevailed. The pause was soon followed by a moan from Isaac's father.

"Son...is everything alright with you? You sure don't sound fine."

Just judging by his father's stretched out gap in speech Isaac could sense that he was stressed over his grueling ordeal. All the young man could do was sit and shut his eyes in angst.

"Yeah, dad, I just need some time to...to work things out."

"Where's Lynn at?"

"She went out to get some more medicine for Isaiah. She said she'll be back before nine."

"Isaac, just relax and let the good Lord take care of everything. You've got a friend in him."

backwards into the couch where he was sitting and began to silently

got something to tell you later on." He flinched, trying with all his might not to sound like he was

"I get off from work at five, come down to the church and we can talk then. I'd stop by, but the

"Okay, I'll be there." Isaac hesitantly said, sitting back and wiping

"I gotta go to work

dad," Isaac sniffed before hanging

noticed a frightened shakiness in his father's tenor that he hadn't heard before; it startled Isaac enough to where he even lost track of where Isaiah was and

the child squealed out as he handed his father

A forced smile came across Isaac's battered face before taking

Isaiah would just sit and clap his tiny hands as though a parade were trolling right through the living room. The boy was happy to see someone enjoying

reports of

talking heads on just what kind of animal could have possibly killed all seven people in one night,

scrolled through every little Sanders girl. Their

A steady stream of drool dripped down and out of Isaac's bottom lip the longer he concentrated on the screen. He was completely void of any emotion at that instant, as though someone had shut off a light

"Here!" Isaiah blurted out, handing his father his red View-Master

man offering him a ride two days earlier, but what seemed to cause Isaac's head

lifted his aching body from off the couch, "your mom wants you to take a bath before she gets

he managed to limp his way into the warm bathroom Isaac promptly removed every item of clothing from off the child's body, cut on the warm

water was all playtime for him. He knew that he

high pitched tone. Much like the proverbial 'fingernails across the chalkboard', Isaac couldn't help but to drown in the hellacious notion that everything that happened two nights earlier was nowhere to be found in his mind. Even the remembrances of the grueling strain of

He recalled screaming of all sorts, from that of adults to children, and yet, had it not been for the TV, not one person's face could

into Isaac's dead face, alerting

boy, it'll turn into a habit." Isaac scolded, shoving the child's right hand away from his

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