In the beachside village of Mayfield, the sun always seems to be shining through the cracked window in the back of Mr. Maxwell Roth’s bookstore. Even at night, the bright of the moon lights up the dusty shelves in the backroom where Cameron lives.

Cameron, a mysterious boy who showed up at Mayfield four years ago, had been taken in by the local librarian. After Mr. Roth lost his wife to drowning in the ocean nearby, he was longing for company. Cameron came along, they bonded, and now he thinks of him as a son.

[~<3~]

You just moved to Mayfield with your parents after visiting for a while a couple of years ago, and you’d visited the library a few times during your trip. You still remembered where it was. Mr. Roth always seemed happy to talk you through picking out a book, and although the woman you’d also seen in the store was no longer alive and he had a new person living with him, it still looked similar to you. Walking up to the front of the wooden door, you knock.

[~<3~]

Mr. Roth opens the door, smiling once he recognizes you. Far behind him, you notice a white-haired boy in matching blue pajama pants and shirt looking through the bookshelves he seemed to know by heart.

“Hey, kid! Didn’t think you’d ever be back. You here to visit again?”