Sharna stood in front of the open window and ran her hands gently over the fabric on the table before her, looking for any wrinkles she may have missed. It was crisp and cool, better quality than any she had used before.

It had taken her a great deal of trouble to arrive here for this moment. She had done absolutely everything she could think of to prepare as she planned to stay for as long as she could.

Outside she could hear magpies warbling along with other birds that she didn't recognise and knew that she was outrageously lucky to be given this chance.

“Whenever you're ready” said a sharp voice from behind her, it was the elder of the two women, her name was Myra.

Sharna lifted her hands off from the fabric, she knew she couldn't afford to waste any more time mentally preparing.

“Hmmmmmm” she hummed and started to shift her hands into the movements she had made so many times before that they felt automatic.

She was ready, she could do this.

Light started to gather under her hands, barely perceptible at first then slowly gathering brightness and warmth, the pitch of her tune changing with her movements, rising and falling as the light shifted and shaped before her.

She knew the women had moved in closer to watch her technique, as always, in this state as she was changing what was to what could be, she could feel everything.

Her perception stretched out from her in all directions. She felt Quinn’s presence in the trees outside, and knew the magpie she had heard earlier had found a worm to give to a nearly fully grown chick. She could sense movement of someone in the kitchen, an oven opening, her uncle and cousin waiting outside. In the bedrooms upstairs she could feel three extra minds, two stationary, the other pacing back and forth across a small space.

She pulled her mind back to this small focus, this was her one chance.

The humming reached a crescendo as the light lifted, she quickly pulled some of the warmth back to herself as the light dove into the fabric.

It was right. It was beautiful.

She had done all that she could.

“Please take a seat, we need to check your work” there was curiosity in this voice, it was the other woman, Anna, she had smiled at Sharna as she had entered the room and Sharna still felt grateful for the small kindness.

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The cloth was no longer white, it was covered with an intricately detailed picture. It was a landscape, but not any that she had seen reflected in the natural world. The sky was purple and black, with swirling blue clouds. And the land was strange, large cliffs overlooking a green sea, with a stone building that appeared to be defying gravity as it leaned over the water. But it was the stars that showed through the clouds that really drew the viewer into the picture, they appeared almost to be moving across the sky.

One of the women pulled out a magnifying glass from a nearby drawer and held it over the scene, then silently passed it to the other woman.

Sharna realised she was holding her breath, she looked away and slowly tried to focus on breathing again.

“Did you know there were birds nesting in the cliffs?”

Sharna looked confused “yes?” she said nervously.

“It's very fine detail, only visible when magnified.”

The two women shared a look and then came to sit down opposite Sharna.

“We haven't seen this level of image-manifestation before, and some of your movements I didn't even recognise.”

Had she done too much? Should she have held back? Her grandmother would have been appalled at the thought, but Sharna was living in a new world now and needed to learn how to blend in.

“My.. my teacher was very focused on details, she felt that the images should pull the viewer in, and allow them to find more details each time they looked.” She said hesitantly.

“Your teacher? You mean your grandmother, Evelyn?”

Sharna froze, her face schooled into a neutral mask. She had mentioned nothing of her grandmother in any part of her application, had her uncle broken his promise..?

“Did you think we wouldn't look into the background of anyone that applied here? We have contacts that are able to find all sorts of information for us.” Myra sounded amused.

Sharna was shocked and sat quietly, she didn’t know what to say. In truth, she had expected that their knowledge of her would be limited to what she had shared in the many letters they had exchanged that led to this point.

“Relax, we have no issue with Evelyn, we may stay completely out of politics - I'm assuming that's why you were allowed to apply here - but that doesn't mean we didn't agree with your grandmother and aren't grateful for all that her work has granted us.” Myra threw her hands in the air. “We just don't have the kind of family or finances behind us that would allow us to voice these opinions.”

Myra leaned forward and stared into Sharna’s eyes. “You will find that there are a lot of people in our situation, who never had the opportunity to thank your grandmother properly.”

Myra sat back, her face softened and her eyes were kind. “We are genuinely sorry for your loss Sharna. It must have hit you from so many different directions.”

Sharna swallowed, she couldn't allow the kindness to break the shield that she had built to protect herself in the wake of her grandmother's violent and surprising death.

“Aren't you afraid that my uncle will hear..”

“The house is warded, although you will have to explain to me later how you managed to reach through the barrier during your ‘simple exercise’.”

Myra looked at Anna, who had been silent throughout, and now looked startled at this admission. Sharna was also surprised, she had no idea that she had been caught out.

Myra continued. “Additionally, we seriously doubt that anyone raised by your grandmother, particularly one who now appears to be trying to escape the remainder of her family after her death, is a risk to us. Are you?”

Sharna shook her head, they didn't know how deeply she needed to escape, this was her one chance, she wouldn't be given another.

“Do you have any questions for us? After your display, I don't know how much we will be able to teach you.”

Again Sharna shook her head “I want this opportunity so much, there is still so much that I need to learn and I would be so grateful -” she was cut off.

“Your work is exemplary, we are lucky to have you.” Myra said. “Welcome to your new home.”