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of twelve who have been brought here. I don't say this to scare you, but just to illustrate the difficulty of the situation. What I can tell you, is that it is entirely possible to travel back to the human world from here because I've done it and returned. The problem is, the only person who survived the journey here before you, died before she was stable enough to make the journey back," replied Shamir.
    "Mmm, so you're afraid I'll go the same way," said Charlie.
    "Yes, exactly," answered Shamir, lowering his head.
    "Well, I'd better hang with it then, freaky dream or not," said Charlie with a wry smile.
    "That would be good," said Shamir, exhaling deeply.

Chapter 6
     
     
     
    Marie came out of a blissful sleep to the sound of someone singing. The voice sounded beautiful as it sang a song about true love and the triumph of the heart. It was Gemma, and as Marie woke up enough to realise this, the memories of the previous day came crashing back. She felt sick to her stomach as she thought about Charlie lying on the ground, white and still, so she lay quietly beneath her doona and tried in vain to distract herself by looking around the room. Gemma's home was quite different in the daytime. The large French doors that ran along one wall were now flung open and the morning sunlight streamed into the cottage. The doors led out onto a courtyard that was completely enclosed from the rest of the garden by a high terracotta coloured wall. The area was crammed full of pots and hanging baskets that struggled to contain an array of wildly coloured plants and ferns that dangled and swayed perilously from their confinement. There were a few varieties that Marie could identify from her cocoon on the couch, but the majority were totally new to her. With horns and splayed-out leaves that cast eerie shadows on their neighbours, they looked like they had been collected from some hidden Peruvian jungle. The air was filled with the sound of chirping, as a dozen songbirds hopped after Gemma while she watered all the plants. She stopped at every one in turn, touching it lightly as she removed any dead foliage and gave each plant a drink from a long-nosed watering can. As Gemma nursed each plant, the birds sat on her shoulders chirping loudly, as though they were a team of trainee doctors, examining each patient and giving their prognosis to the head surgeon.
    "Hello," said Gemma cheerfully, as Marie emerged through one of the French doors. The little flock of songbirds flew up from Gemma's shoulders into a nearby Staghorn fern to appraise the newcomer.
    "Hello," said Marie sleepily.
    "How are you feeling this morning?" asked Gemma.
    "Pretty terrible to be honest," croaked Marie, sitting down on the small stone steps and hugging her legs in an attempt to stop shivering.
    "I've got one piece of news for you," said Gemma, continuing to nurse a sickly-looking maiden-hair fern.
    "Oh, what's that?" squeaked Marie.
    "Well, when I spoke to your mum last night, I told her all about the accident. She was shocked to hear about Charlie of course, but I assured her you were okay, just rather shaken. As it turns out, she's speaking at a motivational something-or-other this weekend, so I suggested you might like to stay here with me, so I can keep an eye on you. I think she was relieved. Anyway, she wants you to phone her when you've woken up."
    "Thank you," said Marie. "I didn't know how I was going to handle seeing her this morning. I know she means well, but I feel so raw at the moment, I just don't want to talk about what's happened."
    "I know, people sometimes hurt us even when they're trying to be well-meaning. Now, I've got some plans for us this weekend to help take your mind off things, if you're interested?"
    "I am, but what have you got in mind?" asked Marie, yawning.
    "The first thing you need to do is have a hot shower. You'll find some new clothes in the bathroom, then we'll have a nice breakfast and talk about it," said Gemma.
    The house was too