The Secret Life of Jack

prolog

Within an old cabin in Athlone, Ireland, lived a family of 7.
You'd think such a large family couldn't possibly live in a small cabin of two bedrooms, but it was more than enough.

This specific family, was a family of borrowers.

A borrower is roughly 4 inches tall and lives in the walls, under the floorboards, anywhere they can make a home without being seen.

This story of borrowers is focused soley on the youngest boy. A Sean William McLoughlin.

He was a strapping young lad, always so active and energetic.

But that energy has caused him trouble, he'd lost track of the amount of times he'd nearly been Seen. But he always made up for it, bringing back things his poor old man couldn't reach anymore, going out and getting trinkets for his ma, anything the last boy in the house could.

His brothers had moved out not long after their first borrowing, wanting to  explore beyond the old cabin walls and see what the world had to offer. It was just him, his sisters, and his parents. And he planned to keep it that way.

At least, he'd hoped to...

As he was making his way home through the passages under the floorboards, he heard it. Loud, thunking footsteps and voices to match.

The long time owner of the cabin they lived in had managed to get his son to visit all the way from America. He'd apparently gone away for work, and because of 'expenses' he couldn't come home as often as he liked.

That's what it seemed they were discussing now. As Jack sped up into a light jog, he listened to the conversation. The son was leaving soon.

It was a shame. Jack hadn't gotten to go through his bag to see if he could borrow anything from him. If he traveled, he must have trinkets his mother would just adore.

And, in a last second idea, he changed direction and headed for the room the cabin owners son had been using for the duration of his trip.
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He made his way to the backpack lying on the floor, slipping in through the open zipper. In and out, no more than a few minutes of searching before he would head home.

And that's what he did, a couple trinkets in hand that the human wouldn't miss. He was just about to slip out when the door opened.

Jack stopped in his tracks, setting down the small items silently before slipping under a cloth.

This was not good.

He bit his lip as the bag was snatched, biting back a yelp as he tumbled downward. The bag had been picked up so abruptly, he didn't even have time to hold on. He moved around in the sea of cloth, doing his best to climb what he could in an attempt to reach the zipper. But he was being flung around so fast, he could hardly stay upright.

The human seemed to be in a hurry, he was running around and shaking the bag so hazardously, Jack was afraid he'd drop it in just the right way that it'd kill him!

He gripped to the fabric of the backpack, looking up to see through the zipper. He could see the ceiling whizzing by. Doorways, lights, pictures on the wall.
All the things he'd known for the past 22 years. All the things he'd been foolish enough to get ripped away from.
His heart clenched at the realization that he'd never see his home again.
He only hoped his family would assume he was dead. It'd be easier to grieve and move on than know their son had been taken by the very beings they feared.