Fran lay in her straw-padded bed with her eyes fixed on the rectangle of the window, glowing luminously with moonlight. She thought back over the events of the day, and a feeling of awe touched her. There was a significance to what had happened, a kind of tingling importance that she sensed but could not quite understand.
She felt that she had somehow ... changed. She had entered into womanhood—but there was more to it than that. She felt stronger, more assured. Her very awareness seemed to have sharpened, to be reaching out and bringing her new impressions she could not identify.
She closed her eyes and sent her flowering perceptions out and away. For a moment she seemed to float in nothingness, disembodied ... spreading. And then she had the sensation of touching something. She drew back, startled, yet fascinated and curious, like a child discovering some new wonder.
And a voice spoke to her, bell-like and ringingly dear—a voice which in some incredible way she heard with her mind.
"Why, hello! Who is this?"
"I ... my name is Fran."
"Oh, I understand. This is the first time for you, isn't it?"
"Yes," she said. "I mean, whatever this is, it never happened before."
In some odd way, the voice seemed to smile. "Don't let it frighten you, Fran. You'll get used to your new ability."
"But ... but what does it mean? And who are you? Where are you?"