Once

Passing through the orphanage’s gate into the forest, Felix notes that he didn’t have to “dig a tunnel” or engage in other adventure-story tropes to escape. He reminisces about Dodie and then makes himself stop—he needs to focus on reaching his parents’ bookshop and figuring out how to find them.

Hiding in a pigpen near the village, Felix recalls that when his parents took him to the orphanage, they traveled along a river. Felix tells the pig he needs better shoes and clothes and someone to give him directions to the river. He considers stealing the pig’s food but decides not to: the pig is penned, whereas he “can get food anywhere” because he’s “free.”

After wandering through fields, Felix finds a remote house “with one of those carved metal things that religious Jewish families in our town have on their houses.” Felix knocks and calls out; no one answers. When he enters the house, he finds a turned-over chair, abandoned meals, the stove on, and the back door open. Hearing gunfire in the distance, Felix concludes that the house’s owners must’ve gone rabbit hunting and won’t return for a while.

Felix drinks water and eats some food, though he’s careful to leave some for the house’s occupants. He finds a hat and men’s clothes, which he cuts shorter to fit him. He also finds shoes, which he stuffs with rags to make them fit. He writes a note (torn from his notebook) apologizing for stealing. Hearing gunshots again, he recalls how his father told him that wild animals like water and infers that the gunshots must be coming from the river. He decides to head that way.

Felix pauses at an intersection. He listens for gunshots but only hears nature noises. Reminded of a story he wrote, where his parents navigated to a troll’s cave by listening for its chewing, he thinks: “Sometimes real life can be different from stories.” At last, he hears gunshots again. He heads down a dirt road, sees tire tracks, and decides to hitch a ride if he can.

A truck is coming down the road. Felix walks into the road to flag it down and realizes it’s stuffed with “half-naked people.” Confused, Felix reasons that they must be farm laborers who’ve taken their clothes off to travel to a swimming holiday. When the truck doesn’t slow down, Felix eventually has to jump out of the road. Felix is astonished that the driver “was so busy daydreaming about his holiday” that he didn’t see Felix.

Felix sees an “army truck” coming. He waves and calls out, asking for a ride. One soldier “pretends” to aim a rifle at him. Felix assumes the soldier is trying to “giv[e] a country kid a thrill.” The truck passes, bouncing over a pothole, and a gun goes off. Felix falls, stunned—the bullet passed near his head. Figuring it must’ve been an accident, Felix gets up and yells that he’s fine—but the soldiers in the truck don’t see him. 

Felix reaches the river and has a drink. He’s feeling better, having decided that the Nazis must be destroying books in remote areas first so they won’t have to travel there when winter comes. His parents’ bookshop in town should be fine. Suddenly, Felix hears loud gunfire. Though he still thinks it must be hunters, he’s glad he’s traveling the other way. Suddenly, the river runs red. Felix wonders whether it’s blood but decides the hunters couldn’t have shot that many rabbits: it must be “a trick of the light.”