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John said, “I’ll bet you a cookie he doesn’t pick diaper duty”

“No bet,” Mary said “Besides, there are no cookies”

“I miss cookies,” John said wistfully

“Hey,” Francis yelled “All these lists suck”

“Yes,” Mary agreed “Yes, they do”

“This all sucks”

“Please stop saying ‘sucks’ I don’t want to have three-year-olds repeating it all day”

“Man, whenout,” Francis sulked

“Fine I’ll be sure not to schedule you after that Now, pick a work list and do it I don’t want to have to waste Sa him over here to motivate you”

Francis stomped back to the easel

“Stepping out,” Mary said to John, and ic fifteen so far? Only two have poofed People talk about it But they don’t actually do it”

The FAYZ had elie of fourteen No one knehy At least, Mary didn’t, although she had overheard Saht know more than they admitted

A fourteen-year-old who reached his fifteenth birthday would also disappear Poof If he let himself If he decided to “step out”

What happened during what kids called Stepping Out was non to just about everyone The way subjective time would slow to a crawl The appearance of the person you loved and trusted e you to leave the FAYZ And the way this person transformed into a monster if you resisted

You had a choice: stay in the FAYZ, or…But no one knew just what the “or” was Maybe it was escape back into the old world Maybe it was a trip to some whole new place