Maya
Leo? Where are you?
Leo
I’m right here. I’m right on the other side.
Maya
The other side of what?
Leo
There’s a wall, Maya. In the middle of our room.
Maya
There’s never been a wall.
The house
Leave.
Maya
Hi. It’s Maya. Welcome to Maya and the Fog.
Leo
And Leo. I live here. In the same room. Still.
Maya
This is the story of the day I told our house I hated it.
And our house heard me.
Leo
Houses don’t hear. Houses are wood and nails.
Maya
That’s what you said then too.
Oh! And next week, our Halloween special comes out on Saturday. October thirty-first. Not Sunday, like always.
Leo
It’s the last one of the season.
Maya
This one’s scary. If you want a hand to hold, find one. Okay. Here’s what happened.
The rainy saturday
Maya
Forty-one.
Leo
Forty-one what?
Maya
Glow stars. On the ceiling. I counted them again. Still forty-one.
Leo
You count them every time it rains.
Maya
It rains every time I’m bored.
That sound is the seventh stair. It creaks. And then Mom’s slippers go shh, shh, shh. At night, that’s how I know she’s coming up to check on us. I always pretend I’m asleep.
Mom
Laundry. Socks on your own beds, please. Lunch in a little while.
Leo
Can we go to the park?
Mom
In this? If the rain stops. Until then, find something you can do together. Quietly. Lily’s asleep.
Maya
There’s nothing to do together.
Leo
There’s nothing to do at all.
Maya
We could do the basket again. In the hall. You pull, I ride.
Leo
I’m too big for the basket. That was last year. And you crashed into Lily’s door.
Maya
You crashed. I steered.
What are you doing?
Leo
Tape. Your side. My side. Down the middle of the room.
Maya
My side is just my bed!
Leo
And that bit of floor. With the sock.
Maya
You can’t put a line in our room!
Leo
It’s not our room. That side is your room. This side is my room.
Maya
Moose is lying on your line.
Leo
Moose doesn’t understand boundaries.
Maya
Fine. Then I’m going downstairs. Except I can’t. Because the stupid stair tells on me. Creak. Every single time. Mom always knows.
Leo
At least the stair doesn’t wake you up. That clock bongs all night. Bong. Bong. Bong. Right outside our door.
Maya
You count the bongs when you can’t sleep. I hear you whispering numbers.
Leo
I do not. Because it’s too loud to sleep. It’s the loudest clock in the world.
Maya
And the hall’s the most boring hall in the world. Same clock. Same doors. Same everything.
Leo
And this room is too small! Two beds and a dog and you. When it thunders you climb into my bed and kick me.
Maya
You said I could!
Leo
That was once. I want my own room. I wish I had my own room, with a door, and no you in it.
Maya
Well, I hate this house! It’s creaky and loud and boring and small, and I hate it! I wish we could leave!
I slammed our door so hard the glow stars shook. And then something happened that had never happened before.
The house went quiet.
Leo
…Pipes.
Maya
…Yeah. Pipes.
It answers
Maya
Mom? Is that you on the stair?
No slippers. There’s always slippers after the creak.
Leo
It’s old wood. When it rains, the wood swells, and it creaks. That’s all.
Maya
Well, it’s still a boring house.
Leo
Maya. It creaked when you said boring.
Maya
That’s just a coincidence.
Leo
Then we test it. A nice word, about nothing. Banana.
Maya
Nothing.
Leo
Now a mean word. About the house. Boring.
Maya
It answered. It only answers the mean things.
Leo
The house is listening to what we say about it.
Maya
Then nobody say anything else about it. Not one thing.
Leo
That’s the clock. I counted. Thirteen.
Maya
You said it was too loud.
Leo
Clocks don’t have thirteen!
Maya
It’s doing what we said. Everything we said. In order.
Leo
Mom!
Mom
Lunch!
Maya
She’s downstairs. Come on. We’ll tell her. Hold my hand.
The stairs
Maya
Our stairs have fourteen steps. I know, because I count them every time I go down for breakfast.
One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six.
Leo
Seven. It creaked louder. Keep going.
Maya
Twelve. Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Leo. Fifteen.
Leo
There should be floor. There’s just more stairs.
Maya
Twenty. The kitchen light’s getting smaller. It’s going away from us.
Leo
Stop counting. I don’t want to know.
Mom
Lunch!
Maya
That came from behind us. From upstairs.
Leo
She was downstairs. She can’t be both.
Maya
And she just said "Lunch." Real Mom says other things. She says "Lunch, you two," or "Lunch in a little while." That one only says "Lunch."
Leo
Back up. Back up. Don’t let go.
Maya
Four steps. We only went up four, and we’re at the top.
Leo
We went down twenty.
Maya
I said I couldn’t go downstairs without the stair telling on me. Now I can’t go downstairs at all.
The same door
Maya
The hall was right there. Our door. The clock. The bathroom. Lily’s door at the end. So we went to get Lily. Because Lily’s the littlest, and you go and get the littlest.
Leo
Lily’s door. Right here. Quiet.
Maya
Leo. That’s our room. That’s my bed. That’s your tape.
Leo
Try the bathroom.
Maya
Our room. Again. With our stars.
Leo
Every door is our door. Same door. Over and over.
Maya
I said the hall was boring. Same doors. Same everything.
Leo
Where’s Lily?
Maya
That’s her. She said "ba." She’s okay. She’s somewhere. We just can’t get there.
Leo
Okay. Okay. Then we stay in our room. Our room is the safe one. It’s the only one.
The wall
Maya
But I’d said one more thing about our room. And Leo had said something too.
Leo
The floor’s moving. The tape. Maya, look at the tape.
Maya
It’s standing up. The line is standing up!
Leo
It’s a wall. It’s growing out of the floor. Maya, come over to my side! Quick!
Maya
Leo! Grab my hand!
Leo?
Leo
I’m here. I’m right on the other side.
Maya
The other side of what?
Leo
There’s a wall, Maya. In the middle of our room.
Maya
There’s never been a wall.
Leo
I’ve got a door on my side. And no you in it. It’s my own room. It gave me my own room.
Maya
Is Moose with you?
Leo
No.
Maya
He’s with me. He’s barking at the wall.
Leo. My door just opened. By itself. There’s nothing out there. No hall. Just white.
The house
Leave.
Maya
That’s my word. I said that. I wish we could leave.
Mom
Lunch!
Maya
It’s Mom. In the white. Maybe she’s out there. Maybe if I go —
Leo
Maya, don’t! Listen to it. It only says "Lunch."
Maya
Moose won’t go. He’s sitting in front of the door. He’s growling at it.
Leo
Moose barks at everything. He doesn’t growl at Mom.
Maya
Sorry, house! Sorry, sorry, sorry!
Leo
It’s not working. You say sorry like that when you want a cookie.
Maya
Lovely house! Best house in the whole world! I love every single bit!
A star fell off. It’s worse. The wall’s getting thicker.
Leo
Because it’s not true. You don’t think it’s the best house in the world.
Maya
I don’t think it’s the best house on this street right now.
Leo
It’s air pressure. It’s the wood. It’s — Maya, I can’t explain it. I can’t explain any of it.
Maya
Leo? You sound far away.
Leo
You sound far away too.
The turn — the seventh stair
Maya
Shh. Leo. Listen.
The seventh stair. And then slippers. Shh, shh, shh.
Leo
That’s the real one. That’s Mom.
Maya
She’s coming to check on us. Like at night. When I pretend I’m asleep.
And I remembered why I like that creak. So I said it. Out loud. To the house. And I meant it.
I like the seventh stair. I like that it creaks. At night, it tells me Mom’s coming, so I’m not scared in the dark. I don’t want it to stop.
Leo
It’s a normal creak. Maya, it’s just a normal creak.
Maya
It doesn’t want sorry. It doesn’t want nice words. It wants the true thing. The thing you’d forgotten.
Leo. Say a true one. About the clock.
Leo
I don’t —
Maya
You count the bongs. I hear you.
Leo
Okay. Okay. On my birthday, I woke up in the dark. And I counted. Six bongs. Six o’clock. That meant we could get up. And we sat on the landing in our pajamas, waiting for Mom, whispering so we wouldn’t wake Lily. You put a party hat on Pip.
Maya
It fell over his eyes.
Leo
I like the clock. When I can’t sleep, it keeps me company.
Maya
One bong. Just one.
Leo
The wall’s thinner. I can hear you better.
Maya
My turn. The hall. The basket. You pulled me all the way from our door to Lily’s door, and you crashed, and I wouldn’t get out because I wanted another turn. And you gave me one. That’s my favorite hall in the world.
My door. It’s the hall again. I can see Lily’s door.
Leo
That’s Lily. That’s her real "ba."
Maya
There’s still the wall. Leo. It’s you. You said it. You have to say the room.
Leo
I said I wanted my own room. With no you in it. And now I’ve got one. And it’s the worst room I’ve ever been in.
When it thunders, you climb into my bed and you kick me. And I don’t mind. I said I did, but I don’t. I don’t want my own room. Not if you’re on the other side.
Maya
I like it small. You’re close enough to grab.
Leo
It’s going down. It’s going back into the floor. Maya. Grab.
Maya
Got you.
It’s just tape again. Just a line of tape.
The house
Leave.
Maya
No. I don’t want to leave. That was the meanest thing I said, and it wasn’t true. I want to stay. This is our house. With Mom, and Lily, and Moose, and Leo. Even when it’s boring.
Leo
The door shut. And there’s rain. I can hear the rain.
The way back
Mom
Maya? Leo? What was all that shouting? Are you two okay?
Maya
Mom!
Leo
That’s her. She said real words.
Mom
Oh. Okay. Come here, both of you. I’ve got you. What happened?
Maya
The house went wrong.
Leo
We said mean things about it. And it heard.
Mom
That sounds really frightening. It’s an old house. It creaks, and it’s loud, and it’s small. And it’s ours. Come on. Lunch. You can tell me all of it.
Leo
I took the tape up. After lunch.
Maya
I get half the floor now. Actual half.
Leo
And the sock.
Maya
And Moose gets both halves.
And the stars. Forty-one. All back.
Here’s what I learned. You can be bored in your house. You can even be mad at it. But don’t forget the good bits. The creak that means Mom’s coming. The clock that keeps you company. The hall where you ride in the basket. And the small room where your brother is close enough to grab.
Leo
You can still be annoyed with me.
Maya
I know. I am.
…Mom?
Mom
Still up here, sweetheart. Just checking on you two.
Leo
Slippers. I heard the slippers.
Maya
Thank you, house.
See you next time. In the fog.