Jemima had given up waiting. She couldn't understand what had happened to her weak-willed friend and, frankly, she didn't care. She walked sulkily back towards the bed & breakfast. On her way a group of workers came rushing across the road and erected a barrier to block her path.

"I'm not bein' funny or nuffink but d'you mind letting me get past?" she asked.

"Hello, Madam, my name is Patrick. I work for BT. How can I help you today?"

"Yeah, can you take this thing down, please?"

"Just a moment, please," he said. He turned and nodded to one of his colleagues who put on the inevitable CD.

"It's up to you, mate, you can either take it down or I'll just climb over it."

"Hello, Madam" said Patrick again. "My name is Patrick. I work for BT. How can I help you today?"

"You could help by gettin' out of my face."

"I'm glad you're pleased with the way we blocked your path as you requested in Order Number VOL331256," he said.

"Yeah, keep tellin' yourself that, loser," she said and climbed over, to gasps of horror from the assembled BT staff.

On the other side Jemima encountered a large green box with lots of cables in it and a hammer beside it.

"Hello, my name is Siddiq," said a man, appearing from it and blocking her way. "I'm pleased to block your path as you requested in order number..."

Jemima's fury reached boiling point and she hurled the hammer at the green box. There was a blinding flash, a puff of pink smoke and Jemima fell over, feeling herself to be spinning, spinning, spinning...

She awoke to find herself lying by the side of the forest near her home. She awoke and rubbed her eyes. Yes, everything looked normal. She let that sink in for a while: everything was back the way it shouldbe. She began to think about what had happened to her the last few days. Maybe none of it had happened? Where was Patricia?

She took herself on a long meandering walk. Eventually she came back to her flats. Sonething made her stop in her tracks: on the rooftops was a British Union flag with a hammer and sickle on it. She wasn't home at all.

RATE THIS BRANCH!