We ended up with a compromise by going early and staying just for about an hour, then it was back to the garden she'd fallen in love with and couldn't...wait to get back to!I called in at the shop on the way back to enquire as to how our vegetables had gone down at his son's shop and was pleasantly surprised to hear that he'd almost sold out completely and wanted a similar order for the next day."That's great Mr Patel" I said, "But you do realise don't you that at this rate, I'll have none left. She had stepped up to save his life. She had some strange power. She had burned that day, and it hadn’t harmed her. No one in the family understood why.Maybe we’d discover that truth on this journey, too.My fear simmered down to dread with every beat of my heart. Mother Azuliana hardly had to flap her wings. She glided over the sea. It was so far below now. The waves looked so tiny. And it was so vast. I looked behind us and saw that our island had already become a little spec about to vanish. I had had each of the dishes at one point in mytime in Japan, I washed it down with the green tea that came with it andlay back down on the futon.The next morning, my first changes were clear, I had lost about a foot ofheight and my features had softened, my hands were slightly more slenderthan I remember. Again, I was given only Japanese food to eat, the peoplebringing it in ignored all attempts at conversation. On the second day, Inoticed my hair going from dark brown to blonde, it soon got. * * * Gin was nestled in a pile of pillows in her living room floor reading a sci-fi novel with a romantic twist when someone started knocking at her door. I wonder who that is. I’m not expecting anyone. Gad, it’s probably Travis. He left something in a voicemail about stopping by sometime. How would he even know where I live. I’ve never brought a guy here before. I’m sure he could find out if he asked the right people, but still… If he shows up here I’m going to make him wish he were dead. .