As the stable door shut behind the wizard, Mike felt a stab of panic. He started to run after Landros, only to stumble and fall as the world seemed to tilt and spin around him. However, the surface he hit was not hard-packed dirt, but familiar green carpet. He scrambled up, feeling a moment of relief at seeing his own room. There was a shout from below. His mother called up "Mike! What are you doing up there? You OK?"
"I'm fine!" Mike froze at the high-pitched voice of a boy came from his throat. It only took a glance down to see that he was still the filthy ten year-old stable boy. There was a moment of silence, and then he heard his mom getting closer as she came up the stairs. "Who is that with you?" Mike was frozen, not knowing what to do. He was back home! He should be back to normal! And then it was too late, because the door flew open and his mother came in a few steps before recoiling in surprise. "What? Who are you?" Her eyes widened and she looked around in confusion. "What are you doing in here? Where are your clothes? Where is my son?" She looked back down the hallway. "Michael! Where are you?"
"Mom, it's me! I',m..." Mike fell silent as his mother spun to stare at him again. "Did Mike bring you up here? Where did he go?"
Mike felt frustrated and scared now. How could he convince his mother who he was? Tears sprang up in his eyes, and he started to tremble as if he really was just a scared little kid. He tried to control himself, but everything he wanted to say vanished from his head. He knew who he was, who he had been, knew this was his mother, this was his room. But there was confusion mixed with all that. Part of him 'remembered being a stable boy in a small, dirty town far away from here, and that part of him was utterly terrified.
The woman frowned at him, and then her expression softened. "It's OK. I didn't mean to scare you. You don't know Mike, do you? Did you sneak in here?"
"I... don't know." Mike felt the tears running down his cheeks and he sniffled. Why couldn't he get his mind sorted out? Everything was scary and confusing. This place looked familiar, yet he had never seen anything like it before, had he?
The woman knelt down in front of him, looking concerned. "I'm not going to hurt you." She reached out and ran a finger down his cheek. "Do you have parents? A family?"
She thought he was a homeless kid. Mike understood, but somewhere between his brain and his mouth the stable boy took over. "Uh, no. I muck stalls."
That puzzled his mother for good reason - they lived far from any place with horses. She smiled. "Look, honey. How about we get you cleaned up and find you some clothes, and get you something to eat? I'll call and see if we can find out where you are from."
Mike nodded mutely, hoping all that would help him think better.