“It’s not what you think, Mom.”
“Enlighten me.”
“I haven’t lied to you. Not exactly.”
“You either have or haven’t. There’s no in-between when it comes to the truth.”
“I have not snuck out of the house. I promise.”
He saw a tremendous relief in her eyes, but still her voice quavered, “Finn…”
“I swear. Mom, I have not snuck out of the house. I told you I wouldn’t, and I haven’t.”
“Finn…”
“I have worn my clothes to bed a few times in the past couple of weeks. If they look more wrinkled in the morning than they did when I went to bed—”
“Wrinkled? They’re filthy! Wet. With holes in them. I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound like the truth to me. Let’s start over, one more time. Please, trust me. You can tell me whatever it is. Whether or not we involve your father…well, we’ll see.”
“It stays between the two of us?” Finn asked nervously. “I gotta hear you say it, Mom.”
“It stays between the two of us,” she said.
“Okay, but you’re not going to like it.”
“Finn! Just tell me.”
Finn drew in a deep breath, wondering if he actually should tell her. What choice was there? The evidence had busted him; he needed to explain it without getting himself into more trouble.
He said, “Something crazy happened when they made the DHIs out of us—the five kids.” He watched her face grow curious and concerned. “When we go to sleep, we aren’t exactly asleep. We wake up in Disney World…as DHIs—as holograms.” Now she seemed to be fighting a smile. “Trouble is, whatever happens there, carries over here. So when I get all dirty there, I end up dirty back here. But you can’t tell Dad, remember? You promised.”
For a moment it didn’t appear she was breathing. Then, her lips unpuckered, her nostrils flared, and she grinned. “That is the lamest, though the most creative excuse you’ve ever tried.”
Finn stared at her, dumbfounded. So this is what he got for telling the truth. “Mom, it’s the truth.”
She tried to compose herself, lost it to a creeping smile, and then suddenly grew very serious as Finn’s expression did not change. Now she seemed to believe him.
“The burn you saw on my arm? A laser fired at me inside the park, at night. I have a bruise on my leg where a doll bit me.”
“A doll?” There was that twitching smile again.
“It’s a Small World. One of those dolls.”
“I see.”
He couldn’t understand it. She didn’t believe him.
“You said you wanted the truth,” he reminded her. Maybe she thought he was losing his mind. “No doctors,” Finn said, defending himself.
“You actually believe this?”
“How do you explain my muddy clothes? Huh, Mom? I am not sneaking out. I knew you wouldn’t believe me!”
His reasoning clearly perplexed her.
“Let me get this straight,” she said.
He interrupted. “You won’t get it straight. Because we haven’t gotten it straight—the five of us. You can’t stop it, Mom. I can’t stop it. None of us can. It just happens. And until we solve—There’s stuff that’s got to happen before this is going to stop.”
“Finn, you’re worrying me.”
“You promised you wouldn’t tell Dad.”
“But I thought…I don’t know what I thought.”
“You promised. Just remember you promised.” He added, “The wet clothes. Tom Sawyer Island. You know that lake around it?”
“This is not funny, Finn. Okay? A-plus for originality. You really had me going. Now, please tell me the truth. The real truth.”
“’There’s no in-between when it comes to the truth,'” he said, quoting her. “If you can’t handle the truth, it’s not my fault.”
“Finn, do not leave. Not like this,” she demanded as he stood from the kitchen table. “Where are you going?” she called out, stopping him in the doorway.
Finn turned and faced his troubled mother. “There’s only one way to end this, to get this over with.” He hesitated, thinking of all the things he could explain if she would only believe him. “I’m going to sleep.”
If Finn had to tackle Thunder Mountain with any of his fellow hosts, he was glad it was Philby. Philby was the kind of smart that made other school kids ask him to do their homework. By now he would have done as much Internet research on the ride as possible. They’d both ridden it dozens of times. But climbing around the ride at night was altogether different, as they’d learned the hard way at It’s a Small World and Splash Mountain.