Marin had plenty of friends at school, but he lived out in the suburbs, and the neighborhood

he lived in rarely had kids his age.

When Van first moved in across the street, the two became fast friends.

Van was homeschooled by his parents, which Marin thought was kind of weird and lame, but

otherwise it was cool as hell.

They were the same age, but Van always seemed older and smarter.

In a weird way, it was like having the older brother he'd always wanted.

They'd spent hours playing games, or out exploring, and over time, Marin found himself wanting

school to be over, just so we could go hang out with his real best friend.

Yet, as close as they were, it was nearly a year before Marin became aware of a strange

custom Van's family kept to every single day.

Marin already knew that Van's grandmother also lived with his family, but she slept most

of the time and never left her upstairs bedroom so far as Marin knew.

What he came to learn, however, was that every morning and evening Van had to spend an

hour with her.

At first, he thought it was just Van's parents wanting him to spend time with his grandmother

before she died.

But over time Van said enough that he learned she was always asleep when he was in there,

and it wasn't just about him sitting in there, bored with a sleeping old lady for a couple

of hours a day.

Van was embarrassed, but eventually snuck Marin in during one of his visits with his grandmother.

Marin didn't know what to expect.

...