The Door Is Locked and Nobody Will Come

In a basement under one of the beautiful public buildings of omelus, there is a room. It has one locked door and no window. A little light seeps in dustily between the cracks in the boards. The child could be a boy or a girl; it looks about six, but is actually nearly ten. Perhaps it was born defective, or perhaps it has become imbecile through fear, malnutrition and neglect. And the door is locked, and nobody will come.