It was good to get away from the sounds and smells of the city for a while—the hammering, the sawing, the burning. These were so pervasive one could easily forget what real quiet was like. The air here was fresh and the only noises were those of the forest responding to Iona’s presence: the grass rustling, twigs cracking underfoot.

Iona kept walking until she reached the very edge, the place where the grass petered out into the whiteness of the floor beyond. A meter or so beyond the last tufts of grass the floor banked sharply upward and merged straight into the wall. As ever the wall glowed gently and was warm to the touch. It was smooth and seamless—in all but one place.

Iona walked parallel to the wall: it took her a few minutes to reach the window. As usual a couple of citizens stood by the window, contemplating what was on the other side. Iona joined them.

The view through the window was murky: it was darker on the other side than it was out here. She might be able to see more if she got closer to the window (it had no shutters and unlike normal windows there was a flat, transparent sheet that filled it and formed a barrier, stopping you from reaching inside), but nobody ever liked to get too close. The only thing she could see clearly was the figure standing on the other side, staring back at her.

Nobody knew how many figures there were but people had reported seeing as many as four at once. They were gray, ugly things, their bodies uneven and untidy. Their eyes were huge and black. Their shape was similar to that of a normal person but their form was entirely other. Many people found the sight of them too disturbing and never came out here to look, but others liked to watch them, consider what they might be and what their presence might mean. Some people came out here to ask questions of the figures, looking to them for a sort of spiritual guidance, and sometimes even claimed to have heard an answer. Iona came from time to time, usually when she was feeling troubled. Not because she hoped the figures would give her the answers to her problems but because seeing them put her problems into perspective. They were an unknowable element of the world. Anything Iona was going through seemed simpler by contrast with trying to understand the figures.

At least, this was usually true. But now she found that however long she looked at the figure, the incident at the funeral refused to sink back in her mind.

After a while Iona realized she would be late for her afternoon class if she didn’t set off for the school now. She kept turning back as she walked away but the figure was still there. Eventually the window was obscured by the trees.

The sounds of the city returned to her ears. Iona wondered if the figure had ever heard them.