The Pallid Man

"Hello," the boy said to the man with no face. "My name is Albert. What's yours?"

The man with no face tilted his head at Albert, like he was observing a bug through a magnifying glass. The man with no face removed his hand away from Albert's shoulder and gestured to the room filled with newborns.

"Is one of them yours?" Albert asked.

The man with no face made a wide gesture.

"All of them are yours?" Albert said in astonishment. "But my brother's in there. Is he yours, too?"

The man with no face nodded.

Albert turned back and placed his hands on the glass that held back the world from the all the newborn babies.

"Albert!" Albert turned his head and saw his father. The man with no face was gone. His father took his hand. "We were worried. I thought you were only going to the bathroom?"

Albert said, "I just wanted to see him, Dad."

"Well, I guess that's okay," his father said. "Here, let me give you a better view." His dad lifted him up by the waist and help him up to see through the glass. "Your brother's the furthest on the right, two rows back." Albert counted the rows and found him.

"What's his name?" Albert asked.

"Your mother and I were thinking of Ezekiel. How do you like Zeke?"

Albert smiled. "I like it."

He didn't tell his father about the man with no face, nor his claim that all the newborns (including little Zeke) belonged to him.

It was Albert's secret.