When no one is looking,
the boy takes his dad’s hockey stick
and shoots a tennis ball against the
wall in the basement,
careful to place the stick back
exactly as it was before.
When no one is looking,
he watches television,
even the shows that his mom
didn’t circle in the TV Guide,
careful to put the channel back
exactly to where it was before.
When no one is looking,
he sneaks into his sister’s room and
reads her Nancy Drew books,
careful to put them back on the shelf
exactly as they were before.
When no one is looking,
he pretends to be Elvis Presley,
playing music on the record player,
using dad’s hockey stick as a guitar,
careful to put the hockey stick back in the basement
and the record back in its sheath
exactly as they were before.
When no one is looking,
he visits with the gerbil he has
hidden in his closet,
and carefully cleans the cage so that his
family is not alerted to its presence.
When no one is looking,
the boy is whole.