Why has no-one turned up? It's inexplicable!As midnight approaches, you have to face reality. Your invitations have clearly all been lost in the post....ou start clearing up despondently, when suddenly the doorbell rings. You dash to the door and open it.On your doorstep are Stacy Smith and Gwen Doe, both wearing long coats."Hi John," says Gwen cheerfully, giving you a kiss on the cheek and squeezing past you through the door."Happy Birthday," says Stacy. "Sorry we're late. We were almost here. I had made it home and collapsedin my bed. I was a zombie at work the next day. It had taken memost of that next week to physically recover. During that week, I e-mailed them telling them how much I had treasured thetime with the two of them. I was discouraged that I hadn't received anyreplies. I called, and left a few messages for them, again with no reply. Finally,on Saturday, more than a week after, I received the following e-mail: David, I told you I wanted you to take some time to. For one fleeting second, she thought that someone else was staring back out at her. Someone with flaming red hair and deep green eyes. Eyes that expressed, in that second, how unhappy they'd be if Joan... Never mind. She shook her head, plastered on a smile and opened the door.Brunch was nice, even though Joan wasn't the cook that Sally was. Sally was more than eager to help in the kitchen and everyone pretended there was nothing wrong."Where's Christine?" asked Joan."We left her with Annette. When I closed the door, the light went out, now I am sitting in a cage, naked, in the dark. Thinking 2 minutes late and the deal is off, my nerves had just about had it. I started to cry and I hate when that happens, I want to yell and scream not cry.A voice in the dark said, "You have nothing to be frightened of; this is a place were only happy things occur.” I heard the voice. It was low pitched, very calm and soothing. "You don't need to cry, you are very safe here.” As the words sunk in,.