[00:03.24]When night unfurls its silent splendor, please take this book and read in the lamplight.
[00:09.55]Each sensation will be heightened by the people, their stories and their feelings.
[00:16.31]You may read the stories in soft voice, with meditation and comprehension.
[00:21.43]The people, the stories and the feelings print your heart.
[00:26.98]1.Back Home
[00:30.57]A gentle breeze blew through Jennifer’s hair.
[00:34.28]The golden red sun was setting.
[00:36.89]She was on the beach, looking up at the fiery ball.
[00:40.59]She was amazed by its color, deep red in the middle, softly fading into yellow.
[00:47.23]She could hear nothing but the waves and the seagulls flying up above in the sky.
[00:53.11]The atmosphere relaxed her.
[00:55.83]After all she had been through, this is what she needed.
[00:59.43]“It’s getting late,” she thought, “I must go home, my parents will be wondering where I am.”
[01:06.39]She wondered how her parents would react, when she got home after the three days she was missing.
[01:12.82]She kept on walking, directing herself to bungalow 163, where she spent every summer holiday.
[01:21.10]The road was deserted.
[01:24.75]She walked slowly and silently.
[01:27.15]Just in a few hundred meters she would have been safe in her house.
[01:32.27]It was really getting dark now, the sun had set a few minutes before and it was getting cold too.
[01:39.45]She wished she had her favorite jumper on: it kept her really warm.
[01:44.68]She imagined having it with her.
[01:47.07]This thought dissipated when she finally saw her front door.
[01:51.76]It seemed different.
[01:55.24]Nobody had taken care of the outside garden for a few days.
[01:58.84]She was shocked: her father was usually so strict about keeping everything clean and tidy, and now...
[02:06.35]It all seemed deserted.
[02:10.22]She couldn’t understand what was going on.
[02:13.59]She entered the house.
[02:15.65]First, she went into the kitchen where she saw a note written by her father.
[02:19.24]It said: “Dear Ellen, there is some coffee ready, I went looking.”
[02:25.12]Ellen was her mother but — where was she?
[02:30.67]On the right side of the hallway was her parents room.
[02:34.27]She went in. Then she saw her.
[02:37.48]Her mother, lying on the bed, sleeping.
[02:41.62]Her face looked so tired, as if she hadn’t slept for days.
[02:47.61]She was really pale.
[02:50.00]Jenny would have wanted to wake her up but she looked too tired to force her.
[02:56.00]So Jenny just fell asleep beside her.
[03:00.04]When Jennifer woke up something was different...
[03:03.54]she wasn’t in her mother’s room and she wasn’t wearing the old clothes she ran away in.
[03:08.56]She was in her cozy bed in her pajamas.
[03:11.74]It felt so good being back home.
[03:15.81]Suddenly she heard a voice.
[03:18.24]“Are you feeling better now, dear?
[03:20.54]You know you got us very, very scared.”
