"Mr. Boomerang," they called him, "Mr. Boomerang!" they would scream

Whoever saw him had fear run down their bloodstream

People avoided the forest for that was where he would dwell

And whenever someone saw him their first impulse was to yell

Even when he disappeared everyone avoided the forest track

Cause just like a boomerang, they knew he'd be back

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jules had never gotten into trouble before. She always avoided causing trouble for her mother. She never liked how her father used to always make her mother frown and cry. And now as she watched tears cascade down her mother's beautiful face, she wanted to do whatever it took to make her mother smile again.

They had been in the waiting room of Jules' new therapist's office for about half an hour. She had only been let out of the hospital for one day before the school counselor informed her mother that she was required to start immediate therapy. Jules didn't know where Dixon was but she knew things would only become worse if she brought him up.

When her name was finally called out, she held her mother's hand tightly and walked into the room marked Dr. Johnson.

Inside stood a woman in her late thirties. Jules was instantly attracted to her kind and sincere smile. The woman had that kind of face that aged too quickly but it was attractive in a way that she looked like a harmless, caring grandma.

"Hello there Jules, nice to meet you. My name is Dr. Johnson and my job is to make your experiences less confusing. Our conversations are strictly between us. You can tell me anything or ask me anything. Nothing we talk about leaves this room."

"Hello m'am," Jules replied shyly.

"You seem like a very sweet girl. Would you like your mom to leave the room before we talk?"

Jules nodded her head yes. Her mother was already sad and she didn't want to make her more upset. Her mother gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze before leaving the room.

"Now Jules, let me make sure I let you know my number one rule when it comes to my patients. I will never accuse you of lying. I don't want you to be afraid to tell me what you see, feel, and think. Whenever you're ready, tell me anything you want to and I'll just sit here and listen."

"Okay," Jules replied before telling Dr. Johnson the whole story of how she met Dixon and the events that led up to the disaster that took place at her school.

Jules liked that Dr. Johnson smiled and nodded her head constantly to show her that she was intently listening.

Once she finished telling her story, Dr. Johnson began to ask her some questions.

"Have you faced any hardships in your life Jules that make you very very sad or upset?"

The image of her father instantly popped up in her head and she felt uneasy.

"I never liked the way daddy treated mommy."

"Why is that?"

"He was very mean. He was a bully. He would scream at her and sometimes he would even hurt mommy." This sounded all too familiar to Dr. Johnson. Most of her young patients dealt with an abusive relationship between parents.

"Did he ever hurt you?"

"No. Mommy protected me." Jules unconsciously wrapped her arms around herself.

"Does he still hurt her?"

"No. He left a few months ago and never came back." Jules remembered the night her parents got into a heated argument that ended with her father leaving after packing his bags in an angered rush.

"What feelings do you have towards your dad? Anger? Sadness? Fear?"

"Confused. I feel confused. I don't understand why he loved alcohol more than he loved mommy and I."

"Do you hate your daddy for the way he treated you?"

"Oh no!" Jules replied almost immediately, "Mommy tells me I should never hate anyone. She said daddy wasn't mean on purpose. Alcohol messed with his head."

"Do you miss your daddy?"

Jules had to think for a moment. Though her feeling were confusing to her, she knew that Dr. Johnson wanted her to be truthful.

"Yes. I miss him a lot. Well, I miss the dad I had when he wasn't drunk."

"You know Jules, sometimes when people go through an event in their life that causes them suffering, their brain creates coping mechanisms to deal with the pain. Children in particular, have the tendency to experience delusions. Maybe your mind created Dixon so that he would fill the part of your heart that your father left empty."

"So you're saying that Dixon isn't real? It's all in my imagination."

"Yes dear. It is totally normal for a child like you-- having experienced what you have experienced--to create imaginary friends in your head to distract you from the pain of losing your father."

"But, he helped me out of the forest. That means he has to be real."

"Maybe you were never lost in the first place. Your mind could have tricked you into thinking you were lost. You've lived by that forest for eight years. It is very likely that you know the way back even if you are not conscious of it."

Jules was still unsure if it was possible that Dixon was just a figment of her imagination. He just seemed so real. However, Dr. Johnson was a doctor and an adult which meant she must know what she's talking about. Although her explanations were still kind of confusing, they did explain why Jules was the only person that could see Dixon.

"I guess that kind of makes sense."

Dr. Johnson gave Jules a warm smile.

"I think that's enough talking for today. Thank you for being open with me Jules. Just give me a second and I'll walk you out to your mom."

While Jules waited for Dr. Johnson to finish writing on her clipboard, she curiously looked around the room. She noticed a small bookshelf close to the messy desk that was in the back of the room. Many of the books had titles with words that Jules had never heard of. She didn't know what Anorexia Nervosa, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, or Asperger Syndrome were. However, one black book with a red symbol on it caught her eye. The red symbol looked oddly familiar but Jules couldn't remember where she had seen it before.

However, the thought suddenly left her mind when she saw a figure staring at her from the window in her peripheral vision. She gasped loudly and almost fell out of her chair when she saw Dixon standing outside looking at her with an emotionless face.

"Jules, what's the matter?" Dr. Johnson asked worriedly.

"I see him. Dixon. He's standing outside. Are you sure he's not real Dr. Johnson."

The doctor followed the child's gaze and saw nothing at the window.

"Don't worry Jules. It's all in your head. I don't see anything over there. Anyhow, I've finished writing what I needed to write. Why don't I take you to your mother so you can go home and get some rest."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When they arrived home, Jules's mother led her to the couch in the living room and kneeled in front of her.

"Sweetheart, I need you to promise me you won't look, talk, or think about Dixon anymore."

Jules felt uneasy with her mother's request.

"But Dr. Johnson says that my mind creates Dixon to protect me from the pain of the past. Doesn't that mean that Dixon is good for me?"

"I know darling but your imaginary friend is going to end up hurting you more in the future. It's very unhealthy for you to do bad deeds and then blame it on someone that doesn't exist. If you want to get better, you need to get rid of Dixon from your mind."

"But mommy--"

"No buts Jules. Please don't give mommy a hard time. It's either you get rid of Dixon or I throw away all your dolls."

Jules was terrified at the thought of her mother doing such an evil thing.

"Yes m'am," Jules whispered before walking up to her room.

She was a bit startled when a saw an all too familiar boy sitting on her bed.

It's all in your head. It's all in your head. She thought to herself before ignoring the boy and going to the floor to play with one of her dolls.

"Hey, why are you ignoring me?" She felt a hand on her shoulder.

He's just a part of my imagination. He's just a part of my imagination. Jules repeatedly thought to herself.

"Are you mad that I hurt your classmates? You should be thanking me. They were being mean to you."

Jules still ignored the voice but became frightened when she felt Dixon pull the doll out of her hand.

The fear and confusion pushed Jules to finally speak.

"We can't be friends anymore Dixon. Mommy says that I have to get rid of you and Dr. Johnson says you're not even real."

Dixon's emotionless face was replaced with one of anger.

"I don't care what other people say about me. You made a deal with me. You promised you'd be mine."

"Well I take that promise back! You're just in my head. I can't make a promise with something that doesn't exist!"

Dixon growled and was about to yell at the child but stopped himself when he saw the fear and sadness that swam dominantly in the child's eyes.

He didn't like seeing her beautiful face so upset.

"Fine," he said in defeat, "I'll leave. It seems you are still too young for us to be together. However, you made an unbreakable promise to me. I never forget promises."

The air suddenly became cold and with a blink of an eye, Dixon disappeared.

Jules sighed in relief. She was still very surprised that her imagination was so strong. Everything felt so real.

She laid on her bed and closed her eyes.

"He's not real. He's not real. He's not real," she repeated until her heart rate slowed down.

When she opened her eyes, she saw a yellow post-it note stuck on the wall.

She stood on her bed and pulled down the note.

Her heart rate picked up once again for the post-it note had the words I'll BE BACK written on it and there was no doubt that the note was indeed real.