Eron Sheean

Abandoned by his parents, a boy embarks on a journey through time.

Abandoned by his parents on a cold and desolate beach, a young boy meets a child a few years younger than himself, who leads him on a chase before disappearing abruptly amid the long grass of the dunes. Moments later, the child reappears – only older, this time, and more menacing. He dares the boy to follow him into a dark forest; and despite his misgivings, the boy does as he asks, watching in astonishment as his guide ages once again, this time into a grown man. He gives the boy a clue to his parents' whereabouts, an abandoned WW2 bunker further along the shore. Venturing inside, the boy discovers his parents – or at least, something that resembles them. Bound in twine, oddly still, they seem mere shells of their former selves. But the man who brought him here – his older self, we now realize – still has one last doorway to lead him through . . .