EMMA JANE STOPPED TALKING and the spell that she'd cast over Vanessa with her story abruptly broke. Vanessa blinked, feeling the sense of sea and sand fade as she did so, then shook her head.
"Woah. That was some story. How'd you manage to make it feel so real?" Vanessa asked, impressed with Emma Jane's story telling abilities.
Emma Jane smiled. "It's one of my small gifts. I'm able to tell stories of the lives of others in a way that you feel almost as though you are there. Sometimes, this is of great value, other times, not so much." She laughed, with a trace of self-deprecation that Vanessa understood.
Vanessa couldn't count how many times she'd listened to Evelyn complaining of the same problem. 'What good is it for me to see things if I can't change them?' she'd said over and over
