Chapter 1
It started on an ordinary Wednesday afternoon.
Tommy was nine years old, curious about everything, and far too smart for his own good.
His mother believed he was outside playing.
He wasn’t.
Instead, Tommy had quietly wandered upstairs just as his mother welcomed a gentleman visitor into the house while her husband was away at work.
Sensing something mysterious was happening, Tommy did what any curious nine-year-old would do.
He climbed into his parents’ bedroom closet and waited.
The closet was crowded with coats, old boxes, and forgotten Christmas decorations. It was the perfect hiding place.
A few minutes later, disaster struck.
The front door opened.
Tommy’s father had come home unexpectedly.
Panic spread through the house.
His mother rushed around the bedroom like a woman trying to hide a hurricane.
Without thinking, she grabbed her visitor and shoved him into the closet.
The man stumbled inside.
The door slammed shut.
Neither of them realized Tommy was already there.
For several seconds there was complete silence.
Then a small voice emerged from the darkness.
“Dark in here.”
The man nearly had a heart attack.
“Uh... yes, it is.”
Tommy continued calmly.
“I have a baseball.”
“That’s nice.”
“Want to buy it?”
“No, thank you.”
“My dad is outside.”
The man froze.
A long silence followed.
Finally he sighed.
“How much?”
“One hundred and fifty dollars.”
The man considered his options.
There were none.
“Sold.”
Weeks passed.
Life returned to normal.
Or at least as normal as it could.
Then one afternoon history repeated itself.
The same visitor.
The same bedroom.
The same unexpected arrival of Tommy’s father.
And once again, the unfortunate man found himself shoved into the closet.
The moment the door closed, he heard a familiar voice.
“Dark in here.”
The man groaned.
“Yes, it is.”
“I have a baseball glove.”
The visitor immediately knew where this conversation was heading.
“How much?”
“Three hundred and fifty dollars.”
“That’s robbery.”
Another pause.
Then the sound of a wallet opening.
“Sold.”
A few days later Tommy’s father came home carrying two baseball caps.
“Tommy!” he called.
“Grab your glove and ball. Let’s go play baseball.”
Tommy looked up from the couch.
“I can’t.”
His father frowned.
“What do you mean you can’t?”
“I sold them.”
“You sold them?”
“Yep.”
“For five hundred dollars.”
His father almost swallowed his tongue.
“Five hundred dollars? Tommy! That’s terrible! You took advantage of a friend and charged far more than those things were worth.”
Tommy shrugged.
“He seemed motivated.”
His father pointed toward the front door.
“That’s it. We’re going to church.”
Half an hour later they arrived at church.
Tommy was marched directly to the confessional booth.
“You are going to confess your greed,” his father declared.
Tommy stepped inside.
The door closed behind him.
Instant darkness.
The familiar kind.
Tommy smiled.
“Dark in here.”
From the other side came a tired voice.
“Oh no...”
Tommy recognized it immediately.
The priest sighed heavily.
Then he said,
“Don’t start that again. This time, you’re in MY closet.”
