- "Ränner hjemne! Jeg stanner åg vakter!" Rachel had no idea where they were. Outside was all she knew. She could see the stars. It was a rough ride. She managed to see the back of whatever was holding her. A big, round, furry thing, and by the feeling of her restraints she had deduced it was a rats tail, so the big furry thing was probably a rat. But where had that voice come from? It was really hard to see, but she thought she could see someone sitting on the rat. They slowed down finally, and now she definitly saw someone getting off the rats back. There was a rushing sound and now they weren't outdoors anymore. The rat sped up again and they were rushing into a pitch black tunnel.
   Rachel was in shock, too scared to think straight. This ride seemed to never end. When they in fact stopped and Rachel were put down, she didn't feel anything. When she came to her senses there were a group of people surrounding her. They were huge, all with grey or white hair, and one old looking male were prodding her with a stick.
- "Hon vakner!" the man told the crowd, and then he turned to her. "Hvor er du fraan?"
- "What?" Rachel had no power in her voice and she had no idea what they were saying. The crowd parted and an older heavy set lady came forward.
- "Ho er feeren sjyk! Brenn henne!" The crowd gasped. One of the men picked up Rachel and carried her through a corridor. He kicked a door open, and inside it looked like a simple doctors office. There was a fireplace in the back where a green flame was burning, and the man threw Rachel in the fire without flinching. Rachel passed out.

August voke up smiling. She hadn't inteded to fall asleep, just to close her eyes and get some rest. Then something occured to her. She had to put Rachel in a safe place, so she could grow back to her normal size without hurting herself. Besides, August herself remembered she had a tendency to grow to human size when she slept so she might also need to stay somewhere safer than in a small tree.
- "Rachel?" she whispered. "Wake up, we need to sit somewhere safe." She looked down. "Rachel?"
   She looked around her. Maybe Rachel had grown already? But there was no sign of that in the tree. No broken branches, no footsteps in the soil beneath. August flew down and looked around the tree. Rachel couldn't have fallen down. August wouldn't forgive herself for being so reckless if Rachel had tumbled down the tree without her noticing. No sign of Rachel anywhere. She called out for her, but no answer.
   She grew to human size and ran towards the bedroom. Maybe she was big and had gone to the bathroom? Nothing. No one in the kitchen either. August spent an hour looking for her, turning everything upside down. She soon came to realize. "Rachel isn't here..." she thought. She had never felt lonlier than she did now. She knew Rachel hadn't left her. All of Rachels clothes were still here. But where was she? August fell to her knees. She screamed at the moon as the tears were running down her cheeks.

Rachel opened her eyes. Everything was green. She couldn't tell what was up or what was down. Nothing made sense. Her eyes adjusted. She was still in the fireplace, floating mid air, the green flames licking her body. It was warm, but she wasn't burning. In fact, it felt pleasant, but it is hard to appreciate the pleasantness of not burning when the rest of you is in total panic. She screamed. The old lady came and grabbed Rachel and put her down on a bed.
- "Roligt nu, du er sikker. Shh..." She was trying to comfort Rachel.
- "Get off! Let me go!" Rachel tried to punch the ladys giant hand, but it was no use. Where was she? Who were these people?
- "Ho er engelsk." the lady said to the man who had thrown Rachel in the fire. "Hjemte mi dotra."
- "Leave me alone!" Rachel tried to get away from the lady, and she almost backed off the edge of the bed. The lady caught her, and put her in center, and then she backed away. Rachel sat down and watched. The man came back and whispered something to the lady. She looked at Rachel and lifted her hands, showing Rachel her plams, then she walked to a bowl of what looked like fruit.
- "Eat!" she said in very broken english. "Help soon." She picked up a piece of fruit that looked like a potato and took a bite. Then she took a similar piece of fruit and put down on the bed. Rachel followed her with her eyes as she walked away to a chair by the fire and sat down.
   It was a stairing contest at first. Rachel and the lady never broke eyecontact. Something moved in the corner of Rachels eye. The man stood guarding the door, and a couple of similar looking people were gathered outside the door.
- "Stäng döra! Ni skremmer henne." the lady barked. The man obeyed. The lady then ignored Rachel and picked up something from a basket. Needles and thread. She started knitting. Rachel watched. Her stomach started growling and the lady smiled. Rachel was torn. She was really really hungry, but she was to scared to move. She sat for a while and watched the lady. She was a fast knitter. When the lady looked really absorbed in the knitting Rachel started to scuffle towards the fruit.
   It was a huge fruit. And it smelled nothing. Rachel poked it. Hard. She leaned in and tried to bite it. No luck, it was rock solid. She tried to scratch it, and kept on gnawing at it, but nothing happened, except the fruit started to smell sweet. Her stomach growled again. A shadow fell upon the bed. Rachel spun around and saw the lady standing over her with a knife. She let out a scream and tried to run away, but she tripped and fell. The lady cut the fruit in half, and then returned to her chair and kept on knitting.
   The sweet smell got the better of Rachel. She dove onto one of the halves of the fruit and started eating. The inside of the fruit was definetly easier to deal with. It tasted like an apple and a strawberry at the same time. Once she was full she went back to looking at the lady. Nothing had changed. She just sat there, knitting. Suddenly she got up and walked towards Rachel with the needles. Rachel didn't move this time. She caught the ladys eyes, brown and kind. She smiled and came a bit closer, then she pulled out some scissors and cut the thread. She tied some knots and removed the knitting needles, then she put something down on the bed and walked back to the chair. It was a red dress.

August was lost. What was she supposed to do? What was she supposed think? She had gathered herself for now and stopped crying. Where could Rachel have gone? For a brief moment, she feared that she would have eaten Rachel in her sleep, but she felt hunger. She had never eaten a human herself but she quickly remembered that those who had described it as beeing full for weeks, and if August was hungry now, she couldn't have eaten anyone. She thought that she might go and eat something. Maybe it would be easier to think if she wasn't hungry.
   She didn't feel like cooking something. She just wanted to eat something quick and be on her way, looking for Rachel. She decided to pour a bowl of milk and some cereal. She opened the cupboard and pulled out a box, and cereal poured all over the floor. "Damned rats" she thought. She didn't mind them really. If they were hungry, she would feed them, so she kept fruit near the floor, but the rats always found their way to the unhealty, sugary cereal. Nifty climbers and crafty thieves.
   Nifty climbers... crafty thieves... A thought struck her. She couldn't figure out why a rat would steal Rachel. It made no sense at all, but it was her only hunch so far.