"You and I know everything we want to say," Mrs. Thompkins went on in a soft voice. "Saying it just seems too hard right now. But I'll tell you this: it's just for four months. If it works out and you want to stay down there"-she made it sound like hell-"then that's fine, and I'll wish you well. But if you want to come back after four months, I'll be here, with open arms. Do you understand?"

I nodded and did smile then, and she smiled back at me and left.

I couldn't eat. I didn't know what to pack. What had happened to my life? I was about to leave everything and everyone I had ever known. I'd been looking forward to going away to college next year-had imagined leaving this place, this room. But I wasn't ready now, a year early. I wasn't ready for any of this.

 Connected By Fate  I reach out through the darkness To touch the ones I need I send my spirit with a message It finds their spirits where they reside We are connected by time We are connected by fate We are connected by life We are connected by death Go.

In this still room, the candle flame barely wavered. How lucky, truly, for them to find such a suitable place, Daedalus liked this little room, with its attic ceiling sloping sharply downward toward the walls. He sat comfortably on the wooden floor, nailed into place over two hundred years before. Breathing slowly, he watched the candle flame shine unwaveringly, upside down in the faintly amethyst-colored glass, as if the ball itself were a large eye peering out into the world, "Sophie," Daedalus breathed, imagining her the way she'd looked when he'd seen her last. What, ten years ago? More. Sophie. Feel my connection, hear my message.