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Jordan and Bear screamed out her name as her numb body fell onto the grey surface. She was instantly airborne, clinging on for dear life and flying upwards at a devastating speed.

Five seconds, she willed her brain to comprehend.I’ve only got five seconds before it disappears and I’ll fall.

The realisation shocked her body to respond and her adrenaline to kick in, pumping blood to her numb extremities. She didn’t have time to think about anything but survival as she pushed herself up and threw herself over the side of the carpet, just as it disappeared beneath her.

It was remarkable how high she’d been tossed in only a few seconds. And it was just as remarkable how quickly she fell. She couldn’t bring herself to scream as the patterned floor moved closer and closer. Irrationally, she worried about which square she would land on, before realising that it wouldn’t matter since she was about to become like a bug on a windscreen.

She had only a moment to glimpse the horrified expressions on her friends’ faces as the floor rose to meet her.

“ALEX!”

“NO!”

Alex never heard thecrunchof her body slamming against the ground. Nor did she feel the accompanying agony. She was surprised, really, to learn that dying would be so quick and painless.

But then a new kind of surprise filled her when she realised that the reason she didn’t feel any pain was because she hadn’t hit the ground. She was still falling.

Only then did Alex scream, as she plummeted down the black square and into the darkness below.

Sixteen

“She wove him a hatmade froma melody

He wondered how to fix his calamity

If she’d known how to sing

He’d have worn it with a grin

But instead he preferred it a parody.”

Alex stirred into consciousness, slowly making out the quiet voice of someone singing.

“She sewed him some socks made from a happenstance

He wondered why they looked just like his pants

If she’d known how to sew

He’d have worn them with a bow

But instead he hoped she’d ignore their absence.”

Not yet ready to become fully awake, Alex lay listening to the soothing baritone.

“She knitted a coat made from a memory

He wondered about her sense of propriety

If she’d known how to knit

He’d have worn it in a jiff

But instead he worried about atrophy.”

That doesn’t even make sense, Alex thought. What a weird song.

She waited to hear the next verse, but the voice stopped singing and asked, “Are you ready to wake up yet, my young friend?”