**A spare, powerful story about taking space to process difficult
feelings
**
After something bad happens, a boy feels sad and gray. Mom and Aunt
Cheryl try to talk about it, but he feels like running away. So he picks
up a shovel and starts digging a tunnel from his room, deep down and
into the backyard. Out there, far from the lights of the house, it's
dark enough that he could disappear. But the quiet distance also gives
him the space he needs to see his family's love and start returning
home.
As he heads back, the journey upward is different. He notices familiar
details and tunes into his senses. The tunnel isn't so scary this time.
The boy emerges into his room just as Mom peeks in. When she notices a
twig in his hair, he is ready to talk about the tunnel and finds warmth
in her gentle acknowledgment: "You came back."
Quiet, emotionally resonant text is paired with grayscale drawings
accented with red in this thoughtfully layered exploration of coping
with tough emotions, and taking time and space to heal.