Chapter 2The man entered the room in the morning with his breakfast. He threw the bread down in the same way as he’d thrown the dinner plate. A rat had now woken and scurried out along the floor, stole a hunk of the bread, and then disappeared. The man didn’t notice the rat, but he stared at the floor covered in hay.
“No gold,” he said.
“The knob,” Gideon said. His voice was harsh, dry, and static, like the hay. “The knob is already gold.”
The man turned around. His brushy brows rose, not expecting to see that shimmer of light underneath the darkness. He left without another word.
Gideon’s heart beat quickly. Not with fear, but with joy. He dragged himself over to the bread, now feeling the swell of hunger. He ate. He surveyed the room, still heaped with hay that was not gold, and then
