The Box in the Closet
- Normally people talk about blackouts, but this one just leaves people shocked and silent. It's the longest power failure anyone's ever experienced: seven whole minutes.
- The next day, the mayor summons everyone to a town meeting. The sound system has deteriorated so nobody in the back can hear what he's saying, and people have to repeat his words to the rest of the crowd.
- It's basically an empty speech about how they're seeking—and finding--solutions. Um, what solutions? The crowd is angry and on the verge of a riot when Lina decides to make like a banana and split.
- Doon is also there, with his father. Doon's angry at the mayor for lying, and his father notes that Doon seems to be angry a lot lately. The old man reminds him that anger can have unintended consequences (like hitting your dad in the head with a shoe heel).
- Lina runs out of the town square, trying to push the speech and people's reactions to it from her head. She can't wait to get home and draw with her new pencils.
- She finds Granny taking apart a crammed old closet. Poppy's nearby, playing with a small box.
- The box has some kind of mysterious lock, but it's open. And it's empty.
- Poppy is sitting next to the box and chewing on some paper. The scraps of paper on the floor around her are covered in tiny, perfectly printed letters.