Small as an Elephant

Jack hides his bag of vegetables outside the library and heads in. He convinces the librarian to let him use a computer without registering but finds no updates from his mom either on her page or his own. In a sense, Jack feels relieved, because this means that his mother is likely experiencing an episode rather than actually intending to leave him. Jack’s friend Nina spots him online and messages him to ask why he isn’t in school, and Jack tells her that he and his mother are taking an extra few days off. He remembers arguing with his mother on the way to Maine about visiting an elephant that lives in York. Next, Jack researches the distance back to Jamaica Plain in Boston (home) and calculates that it would take about three days to just walk there. He plans to take the free tourist bus as far as possible and then either walk or hitchhike. Jack finds the address of the food pantry and takes the vegetables there. The man working gives Jack a whole bag full of food to send back to the farm, and Jack feels like he has helped the town stay connected.