Tom couldn't stay in those woods any longer, and as the morning settled in, he came home. Aunt Polly was sitting in the living room, drinking tea, and as Tom opened the door and stepped in, he could see the features in her face shift. Confusion. Then anger. And she got up and took slow and sure steps towards him. The silence of the house echoed in his ears.
"I'm sorry, Aunt Polly." Tom said in a whispered voice. He couldn't deal anymore. "Really." He said. He didn't want a punishment. He wanted a new life. He wanted to run away from here and go find a new home. He wanted a place that really felt like home. He wanted someone who understood him and he could talk to, but... He had that. And he ruined it.
She looked in his eyes. And in her old face, her eyes echoed his.
She could see just how distraught and hopeless he was. She shook her head and wiped her hands on her dress.
"Oh, Tom..." The sad look she was giving him just made him want to cry-- everything here made him want to cry. He always ruined everything.
Aunt Polly put her hand on the side of his face so gently, and she led him to the stairs.
"Take a rest... Where's your schoolbag?" She asked. Tom closed his eyes a moment, hardly thinking, and thought he'd been caught. He left it out there in the forest. He heard her sigh. "Tom, just..." She shook her head again. "Come to church with me on Sunday. Grant me that." She said, and despite the rot and the fog in his stomach, he nodded. He went up the stairs to his room, trying to forget everything. In this moment of awful silence in this house, maybe he could have peace.