Hero crept through his house as quietly as he could back to his room. He was out early in the morning in hopes to take a peak and make sure to wish Maggie a good day one her way to something called daycare. Personally, Hero thought you should care for yourself every day, but who was he to question what humans needed.

The Borrower home was thankfully quiet and he managed to make it all the way back to his room and curl up into his bed before he heard his mother rummaging around in the kitchen. He heard the clatter of plastic plates and simmering water over the candle lit stove. Rats! He hoped he would get a few more minutes of sleep before everyone else woke up.

This was not the case.

Hero closed his eyes and pretended to sleep for less than ten minutes when he heard his door open and a hand grasp his shoulder.

“Hero? Hero, it’s time to get up. You’re coming with us to go borrowing,” said his brother, Tiron. Hero stretched and tried pressing himself under the covers more, but Tiron wasn’t having any of it. “Get up! Dad got me up. Do you want him to get you up?”

Hero’s dad, Casper, was relentless and blunt when getting the children up for the day. There was no doubt that Hero would’ve been pulled out from under the covers and stood on his feet if his dad woke him up.

“M’kay,” said Hero sleepily.

“Yeah, sure. You’ve got five minutes to get ready,” said Tiron before he left Hero’s room. Thankfully, Hero was already dressed and used the time to stretch and enjoy the comfort of his bed before drowsily shuffling to the kitchen.

“Morning, mom,” said Hero as he came into the kitchen and saw a stack of pancakes in the middle of the table. Atlas and Cali were already eating while Tiron sat nearby fastening his shoes, pancake in his mouth.

“Morning, Hero,” his mother replied as she wiped off her flour dusted fingers. “Sleep well?”

“Yes. Did you?” asked Hero as he took a pancake and tore at the edges. The warm, sweet bread had a faint smell of banana.

“Of course. Winnie slept all through the night, always good,” said his mother. Hero’s dad exited the bedroom, fully geared up, and kissed his wife before grabbing one of the circular disks and heading for the door.

“Day’s wasting. Let’s go,” he said gruffly, one foot already out of the front door.

“Bye mom!” the boys called as they chased after their father, strapping on their gear as they walked. Their father had a list of things they needed to borrow today, and evidently the plan was to have the boys carry most of the stuff to keep him agile.

As they walked, they saw a few other Borrowers also heading out to their own borrowing adventures. They smiled and waved, but everyone needed to get going if they wanted to make the most of the morning while their humans were out and about.

Hero couldn’t help but think about where the humans were going and if the humans in his care were busy today. Perhaps he would go take a peak and say hello to one of them. Sam, maybe? Yes, Sam. He was one floor away.

They went to the lift and made it just in time for them to take it up a couple of floors to one of the kitchens they frequented. The strands of lights whirred by, making a blur of light, before they made it to the right level. It took only a couple of minutes to arrive at the floor joist of the human’s kitchen.

Now that they were here, their father turned to face the two young teenage boys.

“Do you remember what we’re here for?” he asked.

“Chia seeds, oil, basket fruit, and tissues,” said Tiron.

“Good. And from the bedroom?” asked their father, now looking for Hero to answer the question.

“Um… yarn and thread?” Hero wished he sounded a little more confident, but those were the things that they were running low on the last time he checked their supplies.

“Correct,” said his dad. “Remember to check for sounds and humans.” Tiron looked at their father, confusion resting in his face.

“You’re coming with us though, right?” asked Tiron. Hero’s father nodded, but pulled his lip into a partial smile.

“Yes, but, Tiron, I want you to take the lead,” said Casper. Tiron’s face immediately lit up.

“Really?” he asked eagerly. Their dad nodded and stepped to the side to let the middle child lead the way. Hero knew that Tiron was nervous. It was always a bit nerve wracking when going outside the cover of darkness and the close walls. Still, Hero had done it a lot recently with his heroing work and felt less timid in stepping out onto the tiles of the human kitchen.

Hero watched his brother intently lean forward by the electrical cover, listen, and then crack it open. Tiron listened again. It was like he was taking a test - and their father was the ultimate grader. Hero’s brother could pass or fail on a single decision, and Tiron obviously didn’t want to fail.

Tiron stepped out onto the kitchen counter, glanced around while keeping low, and then motioned for them to follow behind as he darted forward to a hiding spot behind an immense roll of paper towels. Casper also performed his own checks before following his son out toward his hiding place. Hero was quick to follow; perhaps a little too quick.

There was the fruit on the counter, grapes, and a box of tissues a little further down the way. With no humans in the apartment, the Borrowers made quick work of pulling out one of the tissues and using the folded disposable fabric to wrap three grapes in Hero’s bag. The cabinet, on the other hand, was much harder to get into.

They had to tag team in pulling the cabinet open with their grapples and climbing gear. From there, they climbed the line, retrieved a tea bag full of chia seeds, and a mini vaseline container full of oil. They managed to close the cabinet and slip back into the walls without issue. They also made quick work of the bedroom, pulling the needed thread and yarn from a craft basket in the corner of the room.

It wasn’t until they were on their way back that Tiron remembered one other thing they needed - a plastic bag.

Now was his chance. He could go and see Sam.

“Hey, dad?” said Hero, making his father and brother turn back to look at him. “Would… it be okay if I went by one of the rooms down the way from here? I remember mom saying something about wanting some more cotton balls for Winnie’s bed, and I think I saw some stuffing coming out of one of the shelved toys. I’ll be right back. It won’t take long.”

Casper eyed his son for a moment.

“You’re not going to go out on your own, are you?” he asked stiffly. Hero hated lying, and instead elected to answer the question in a different way.

“I just want to see if it’s still there or if they fixed it,” said Hero. It wasn’t technically lying, but it was avoiding the question. It made him feel a little sick, but he got over it when he saw his father nod.

“Very well. We’ll wait for you by the beams for a while. Remember, your mother needs these things. If we make it back home and I go back to the beams, you need to be there. Otherwise, I’m coming to look for you,” said Casper.

“Yes dad! Bye Tiron! Have fun!” said Hero as he turned and began running off to Sam’s room. Hero made sure his father and brother didn’t follow him but also knew he needed to be quick if he wanted to say hello to Sam before he needed to go back home to keep his family from being suspicious.

One floor away, down the passageway, and over two of the beams and Hero found himself along the entrance in the trim he used dozens of times to get down onto the shelves. He cracked it open, light flooding into the darkened corridor, and peered out into the human world.

Hero noticed instantly that Sam was in the process of pulling a hoodie over the top of his head and his shoes were out of the closet. Was he going somewhere? The Borrower glanced at the bedroom door and, seeing it was closed, slipped out onto the top shelf and began climbing down. He shimmied down to the top of the shelf and called out to his friend.

“Sam!” He tried to keep from shouting to get the boy’s attention, but his hoarse whisper was a little louder than he wanted it to be. The human boy immediately stopped moving and cautiously turned around and looked up at his shelf. Hero smiled and gave a small wave to his friend, to which Sam returned the gesture and finished readjusting his oversized clothing.

“Hey Hero,” said Sam. He glanced over and checked the door before climbing onto his bed and standing to be at eye level with the Borrower. “Long time no see. Where’ve you been?”

Hero couldn’t help but smile at the fact he didn’t flinch or back away as he saw Sam’s head crest over the ledge, even if it did remind Hero of the differences in their sizes.

“Sorry, things have been hectic. I had some things to get together, but I wanted to come and say hello. Are you going somewhere today? I don’t want to keep you,” said Hero. Sam shrugged and grasped the top of the bookshelf with his right hand.

“We’re going to the park, I think. Some of my friends are in town, so we’re going to go see them and probably get some lunch. You’ll probably say no, but you’re welcome to come along if you want,” said Sam. Hero did like the idea of getting to hang out with Sam, but also needed to get back. He also didn’t like the idea of letting too many people know about him.

“Sorry, but I can’t today,” sighed the Borrower teen. “I hope you have a lot of fun though.”

“Thanks,” grinned Sam. “Hey, I have a few minutes. Want to see the new game I got?”

“Sure,” smiled Hero. Sam grabbed his electronic device, logged in, and pulled up the game as he continued to balance on top of the bed. This new game was some kind of survival game where you had to collect sticks, brush, and food. It was called something like, “Don’t be hungry,” or something like that.

Sadly, Hero and Sam only had a few minutes to see the game when they heard the door knob jiggle. Hero’s heart leapt into his throat as he hurriedly dropped to the ground and laid against the top of the bookshelf. Sam, on the other hand, jumped and bounced off of the bed so he was now on the floor wrestling on his shoes.

“Sam, are you ready? Sam, you don’t even have your shoes on. Come along. We’re going to be late,” said Sam’s mother. Hero could just barely see the top of her head from where she was standing.

“Sorry mom,” said Sam.

“I grabbed everything you should need, but make sure you grab a scarf and gloves just in case,” she said as she hovered in the room. Hero wished he could say a proper good-bye as Sam stood up and left the room, his mother guiding him out, but he would see his friend again soon.

In the meantime, Hero knew he had to get back. This was going to be a very short visit, and he was already running a few minutes behind. He hoped his dad and brother weren’t already waiting or, worst case scenario, they were already gone.

The Borrower teen climbed up each shelf and dipped back into the confines of the walls. His legs carried him along the beams, through the walls, and back to the main shaft where he expected to see his brother and father. An uneasy dread seized him as he looked and saw neither of them waiting.

Hero’s heart thumped nervously in his chest. His hands felt a little clammy. Should he wait? How long was he actually gone?

Thankfully, one of their floor neighbors, Braken, was walking nearby with his backpack of belongings.

“Braken! Did my dad and Tiron come through here already?” asked Hero, nervously awaiting the answer. The mid-twenties Borrower paused just long enough to give Hero a nod. He was limping still from the sprain in his ankle, but he refused to rest for more than a few hours.

“Yeah, they were waiting there when I came through. Said they were waiting for you. They probably went back already,” he replied.

“Rats! Thanks Braken! Take it easy!” called Hero as he made a mad dash home. He couldn’t help but scold himself all the way home as he sprinted through the rafters and past some of his neighbors.

How could he lose track of time like that? He was just going to pop in and say hello. Hero knew he needed to be more mindful and careful, but Sam was just fun to hang around, and it wasn’t just because of his game. His door was in sight and, without hesitation, he burst through the door.

Hero was about to begin his profuse apologies when his voice caught in his throat. He saw his family, both parents as well as all of his siblings, as well as three new faces he had never seen before. Two of them looked to be around Tiron’s age while the third looked a little older like Braken. The oldest had hazel eyes and brownish hair with a little bit of blonde while the younger two had soft blue eyes and lighter, sandy brown-blonde hair.

“There you are. Come ‘ere. This is my youngest son, Hero,” said Hero’s father, Casper, as he gestured to the teenage Borrower. Hero looked from his family to the newcomers before remembering his manners. Despite being rattled about being late, Hero mustered a smile and straightened up, trying to hide how out of breath he was.

“Nice to meet you,” he said before looking over, slightly embarrassed, to his father. “Sorry I’m late.”

“You should be more mindful of the time. We waited for you by the beams. Where’d you get off to?” asked Hero’s father. Hero felt his throat tightening as he watched his father walk over to their kitchen table and sit down heavily, obviously worn out from borrowing.

“I was looking at some of the… shelves… in one of the rooms,” lied Hero, still too focused on the newcomers. Who were these three new Borrowers? Why were they in their home? Could they see that Hero was lying?

“Shelves?” prompted Casper. Hero’s knees almost started shaking. No. Did he know? Did these three new Borrowers see him go out and talk to Sam? How? He had been so careful. He held his breath and waited for his father’s words with bated breath.