Cassie

Penketh, Indiana was a small town, not far from the coast but very far from Stanley's home state of Oregon. In the summer of 1985, his mother packed up all of their worldly belongings and took Stanley across the country to join his father in Penketh.

His parents, Mr and Mrs Rosenberg, were orthodox Jews and enforced their religion in their son from a young age. Mr Rosenberg had moved to Penketh two years prior to join the town's close-knit Jewish community and, after his predecessor's untimely death, become their new rabbi.

The journey was a long one and it didn't take long for Stanley to become bored. He spent most of the time listening to his favourite songs and staring out of the window, wondering if he would ever see Oregon again and if his life in Indiana could possibly be as good as it was there.

When his mother first announced that they would be moving, he was less than pleased. He had lived in Oregon for his whole life. It was his home, he had a great life there. Sure, he didn't have many friends but the ones he did have were irreplaceable and Stanley was reluctant to leave them. But, despite his complaints, his mother was adamant; they would be moving at the end of the month. She began packing the next day.

Everything was piled onto the back of their rusty, old pickup truck and the two suitcases filled with their clothes were jammed in between Stanley and his mother. She had been driving for five hours and already had a glazed-over look in her eyes. Despite the music blaring from the radio, the car felt silent to Stanley; he wasn't talking to his mother. He was still annoyed that he was being forced away from his home and he was even more annoyed that his mother was happy to move. Mrs Rosenberg sensed how her son was feeling and decided to let him calm down before she spoke to him.

She did wonder, though: had she made the right decision? She loved her husband and wanted to move to Penketh with him but she also wanted Stanley to be happy. Was it right to take him away from his home, his friends, his family? Was it right to take him away from everything he's ever known? She wasn't sure. However, she was confident that Stanley would be happy in Penketh.

He didn't think he would be.

At the 11 hour mark, long after the sun had set, Mrs Rosenberg pulled up in the car park of a run-down motel. The lights in the sign had all blown out, some of the windows were boarded-up and papers littered the entrance to the lobby, which wasn't much better than the outside. There were dark stains on the burgundy carpet and the cream wallpaper was dirty and peeling off at the corners. They tentatively walked up to the front desk, where a young girl sat reading a magazine.

"Could we have a twin room for the night, please?" Mrs Rosenberg asked politely, clutching her handbag tightly. Stanley studied the room with interest. Looks like the kind of place a serial killer would hang out, he thought grimly.

The girl handed them a key and took the money for the room without saying a word. She simply pointed at the stairs and went back to her magazine. Not at all surprised at the quality of customer service, Mrs Rosenberg sniffed and tottered upstairs, Stanley trailing behind her.

Predictably, the room wasn't great. The beds were clean but the floor was covered in dust and there were bars on the windows. Both of them were taken aback by this.

"That's strange," Stanley said, talking to his mother for the first time in almost 12 hours, "Why do you reckon these are here?" He shook them slightly.

"I dread to think why." She responded, checking the state of the beds. Not bad, she thought.

After hastily getting dressed, Stanley clambered into his bed as his mother got into hers. The hotel was eerily silent; there didn't seem to be any other guests. Still, the silence allowed him to be alone with his thoughts. As he thought about what life in Indiana would entail, a fear of the unknown took ahold of him. What was going to happen at school? Would there be bullies? Would he make friends? And what about the town itself? What was it like?

Trying desperately to push these thoughts out of his head, Stanley turned over and soon fell into a restless sleep.

*

They arrived in the outskirts of Penketh the following night. As they drove through the town, Stanley studied his surroundings. It was hard to see in the pale light of the moon but, to him, it looked like your average sleepy town. Disappointed, he sat back in his seat, pushing away the oncoming feelings of anxiety. It's gonna be fine, he told himself to no avail. He was still convinced that it wasn't going to be ok.

After only five minutes of driving, they had pulled up outside their new home. It was a modest house; it had a wide veranda and a small front garden. Painted in a light cream colour with shuttered windows, it was unbelievably dull. Stanley wasn't filled with hope for his future here as he looked at the house. In fact, he was surer than ever that his mother had made a mistake.