Aldric laughed: “You of all people! I wouldn’t have thought that I’d see you again! Hey, you remember Almeric my brother? He’s married now. That’s Jane, my sister-in-law, by the way. Oh, and Jasmine and Zoe are married now as well! Crazy, huh? Anyway, what have you been up to?”

Stella sighed: “What are you doing here?”

Aldric: “Oh, we went hiking and somehow got lost.”

“That’s nice. Listen, it was nice meeting you all again, but I think it’s better if you leave now.”

Her former college friend ignored her last remark and instead tried to catch a view inside the old housing unit: “Hey, are you living in some sort of commune? Have you felt that weird force field this morning?”

Stella stiffened: “What did you just say?”

“Um, you know, that weird thing that happened today? This… feeling? Well, we all felt nauseous and I think our truck broke down because of this.”

Stella stared at him blankly: “You know what? I’ve changed my mind. Come in, you must be thirsty. Let’s talk.”