Oskar shrugged and laughed at the same time, saying, “Who’s to say you ran from me?  And here I thought you just wanted to play tag or something.  But when you got in the woods is when I thought you now wished to play hide-and-seek,” he joked.  He now found himself not minding at all as she conquered entry into his mind.  After all, it’s not like he had numerous firewalls in place to prevent her from doing so.<br/><br/>In fact, her voice in his head sounded so pleasant, so pleasing, so . . . he ran out of p-words at the moment.  The silent voice he heard did not quite match her spoken words.  Perhaps this was so because she was more refined at communicating mentally as opposed to physically.  In any event, he wasn’t about to reveal this to her, as he enjoyed both forms of contact.<br/><br/>Wishing to ease her out of self-torment, he said reassuringly, “Don’t be sorry, Jane.  I mean, how could you possibly know what you’d be facing?  I would be in your exact position if you were to take me to your land.”  He hoped that struck a chord with her, for if nothing else, it was the truth.<br/><br/>When she again mentioned her Father, he had a response ready for her.  “Did it, um, ever occur to you, Jane, that wherever your Father is right now, is where he wants to be?”  Oskar watched her as she mulled that possibility over.  And from her mild facial contortions, he already knew she doubted it all.  Because according to her, Father always came back.<br/><br/>But five years on now, and he had yet to return to his home.  There were a few questions to bandy about, such as: Was he in danger?  Already dead, perhaps?  Or was he just having a good time?  Oskar had never been a betting man, but right here and now, his money was on the third choice.