Catelina was always a strange girl. Her imaginary friends were many, but she never grew out of the habit. She spoke to them in company, at least until her parents' embarrassment reacher her soul. Only her older sister Madeleine supported her. She said, "Don't worry about them. It's always been true that Cats can see into more worlds than this." Madeleine died while Catelina was still young, but Cat never stopped talking to her. At sixteen, Cat swelled with child. She defied her parents by refusing the procedure and again by concealing the father. With proprietous anger, her parents nearly disowned her. Only concern for their grandchild's welfare stood them back from that precipice.

It was a hard labor, forty hours and great, screaming agony. When it was done, the doctor escorted in her mother instead of bringing Cat her child. "I'm so sorry, Cat," her mother said. "She was stillborn."

Cat shook her head and smiled. "No, Josephine was only born into a different world than this."

Mourning, her parents overlooked her indiscretions and madness. She raised a daughter no one else could see, and spoke with her daughter no matter the company. She lived long, with great joy.