Heron was more sheepish around Lila than he had ever been. He was half worried that she was angry with him, and Heron could not bare the thought of her being mad. However, Lila had given Heron’s trespass little thought; there was nothing that could be done about it anyway. Even the other guests noticed a detachment in Lila’s attentions. She seemed elsewhere, even when she was speaking with them and looking directly into their eyes.

Lila had still not changed the seven numbers on her keypad. They served as a reminder of her most desperate, secret regret. Six, one, zero, one, nine, four, three. This was the date of her childhood friend’s death; a death that she sent him to not once, but twice.

Before Benjamin spent ten years with Lila, he was an American citizen living during the Great Depression. Like most children of his day, Benjamin was forced to grow up fast and he worked where he could in order to help support his family. Very rarely did he allow himself to 'have fun' and play with the other children of the neighborhood, and when his parent encouraged him to, Benjamin would be preoccupied in thoughts of survival. But the few times he allowed himself to be a 'kid' were more precious than gold.

He loved to run more than any other activity. The adrenaline, the feeling of wind breaking on his body, the slight launch into the air; it all made him feel free. And he caught up with anything he cared to chase. If a neighbor's pig got loose and was running around, Benjamin would be the one to catch up to it and bring it back. It was a simple joy, but it was his. He never thought that his love of running would take him anywhere. Benjamin's fateful day came during a trip to the market when a bicyclist nearly knocked him over. He heard a faint cry from behind, “someone stole my bike!” Benjamin didn’t even think about it, within seconds he was after the thief on the bike. Faster and faster he ran, the cyclist kept looking back to find Benjamin closer than before. The thief changed his direction and quickly swerved into the park, hoping for more difficult terrain, but Benjamin was still closing in. In his final stretch, Benjamin was seconds away from catching the thief, but before he could close in on the last five feet, it happened. The sky changed color, the strong winds forced his body back, but not enough to completely break his momentum. Benjamin had run right into the rift and tumbled out the other side. He was only nine.

Wounded, his eyes darted in all directions until his sights rested on a single woman whose hand was extended towards him. "Am I dead?" were the first words out of his mouth. Amelie shook her head back and forth with sadness; never before had a traveler so young come to her. Already she knew Benjamin's would be a difficult stay, or leave. Amelie squatted on the ground, since Benjamin refused to move. She explained as best she could, in a way for him to be able to understand, but all Benjamin could think about was getting home. Family always sticks together, through thick and thin, no matter what.

With a bloodied knee, Benjamin hopped up and began to run. Panicked he rushed into the tall grass, successfully hiding himself. Amelie tried her best to run after him, but was unable to find such the small boy in the tall grass. She called and pleaded for him to return, but when all seemed lost, she knew exactly what to do. Amelie ran back to her home and told Gideon what had happened, hoping he would use his expert tracking skills to find the missing child. However, Gideon refused, deferring to Lila, who was seven and overly eager to please. Immediately Lila ran out into the prairies and began using the tracking skills she learned from both Gideon and Makawee. Even with her intermediate skills, she was able to easily locate Benjamin amongst the tall grass. He hadn’t gotten much farther and his bleeding worsened.

Lila gave Benjamin a start as she leapt into the clearing he had made for himself, mostly due to falling and breaking the stalks. “Found you!” was her introduction, followed by a quick scolding, “That’s what you get for making my mom worry!” Upon closer inspection, Lila realized Benjamin was younger than her brother, who was the only other ‘kid’ she’d ever seen. “How old are you? What’s your name? I’m Lila and I turn eight in…well I’m seven.” Benjamin was in complete shock, was unable to register her words, and only nodded slightly to what she was saying. “Hello?” Lila came up to him and stuck her face in his. She was too young to tell that his eyes were empty. “You’re bleeding, but don’t worry, I’m properly trained! I’ve learned all sorts of good things. Did you know that 85% of plant life is found in the ocean? Well, you should because you’re a boy. My big brother knows everything and he’s only thirteen.” As Lila bragged about Gideon, she wrapped Benjamin’s wounds with pieces of her torn shirt. “There you are, but we really need to sterilize your wounds or else they’ll get infected. They get all filled with pus and turn yellow. It’s kinda cool looking, but it stinks.”

Lila took him by his hand and helped him off the grass. Once on his feet, Benjamin limped dejectedly behind Lila, hand in hand. She led him back and he received the medical attention he needed. Amelie became even more worried after seeing how drastically Benjamin changed in such a short amount of time. All she could do was wait and watch. She promised Lila much ice cream if she stayed by Benjamin’s side and kept him company until he was better, and Lila liked that bargain very much.

The first two weeks upon his arrival were fuzzy at best. All that Benjamin knew was that he was not home with his family and he had a shadow beside him at all times. Lila had grown tired of talking to someone who wouldn’t answer back, so she simply watched him as he went through his daily motions. He was a working boy, and his body was used to certain types of chores; ones that did not require him to think. Every day would be the same thing, he would get up before the sun rose, feed the chickens, milk the cow, sweep the kitchen area, eat breakfast, help with dishes, till the soil, clean up after the animals, and eat lunch. By the time lunch was over, he had run out of daily chores.

It was then Lila would take his hand and lead him around the perimeter of the house. Or sometimes she would take him to her favorite tree and they would just sit for hours. Lila had tried doing activities that might be familiar to him, like puzzles, card game and board games, but he was not a responsive companion. She had even tried guessing his name for an entire week straight, when she was still talking at him, but nothing came of it. Other times she’d take him to see Makawee. They would sit in a circle and Makawee would talk to Lila, and Lila would translate at Benjamin. Makawee always insisted that he could hear them, and would eventually come out of his blank state.

And Makawee was right, one day he began responding to Lila. It began with simple eye contact. For the first time he truly saw her and was slightly taken aback by her presence. It was her smile that calmed his nerves. She was bright and energetic, and once he saw her, he hardly took his eyes off her. She was his portal to this new world he was experiencing. He still did not say much, but they were at least able to play together. He became skilled with a few card games, and Lila taught him some other fun activities from different eras. She also started teaching him things about nature and he was very curious about Makawee; he had always wanted to see a real live ‘Indian’.

About a month after Benjamin began to respond, he started talking more and the shock wore off. He asked Lila a lot of questions about how people came and left, and Lila matter-of-factly told him everything that she knew. He was most interested in the color of his sky and how he would know it if he saw it again. He was reassured that Lila's mom, Amelie, would know when it was coming and when to take him back to the crossroad to go back home.

Benjamin was not the only one with questions, Lila wanted to know everything about where he came from. She was very disappointed with what he had to tell her about his lot in life. "Why would you want to go back?" she would always end up asking him. He would get a little agitated with the question, why wouldn't he want to go back? His family had to stick together and that was that. Lila eventually learned to not ask that question and to offer him ice cream when he became a little too depressed in his nostalgia.

During this time Gideon was keeping a close eye on the two from afar; he wanted to make sure that Lila was in good company, she was the only person that really mattered to him. He was as disheartened as he was pleased that Lila had made a new friend so wholeheartedly. Gideon would be able to detach himself more successfully if there were someone to 'replace' him, but it also meant that he would no longer be the only one Lila's admiration fell on.