Little Room

The little room is no larger than a walk-in closet. Tree thinks it looks like someone put up doors to hide an alcove put in by mistake. The room is used for storing junk, including a broken TV, old comics and magazines, and shoes that the children had outgrown. One weekend, Tree and Dab decide to clean out the room so that Tree could have a private place of her own to draw.

There is a table in the middle of the room, the item of most interest to Tree since it can be used as an art table. The table takes on a new identity the first time Tree sees Brother Rush in the little room. Brother Rush is standing in the middle of the table, as if he is actually growing out of it. At that moment, Tree realizes that Brother Rush is a...