It was as if the children were constantly generating rules about how things should be based on how they were when they happened to come across them. A walk taken along a certain route one day had to be taken the same way every time after that. A random sequence of actions—such as the flushing of a toilet and the switching off of lights before bedtime—instantly became a ritual that had to be endlessly reiterated. The most humble and ordinary day-to-day events became imbued with terrifying significance.
