Chapter Two: Awake with Open Eyes

Daphne didn't have time to even scream before she was enveloped in darkness. The darkness surrounded her like a blanket and she took a deep breath and tried not to panic. Eventually, she was able to become calm and tried to figure out how long she had been falling.

She was able to come to two quite conclusions: the first was that hadn't been that long and the second was that she wasn't falling anymore. She was, in fact, lying on the ground, as she could feel the soil beneath her.

She opened her eyes and saw two pigeons. "Is she awake?" one of the pigeons asked.

"I don't know," the other pigeon said.

Daphne was quite shocked at this, because she had been under the impression that pigeons couldn't talk.

"I'm awake," she said, trying to stay calm. "I mean, my eyes are open, so I think I'm awake."

"That doesn't mean anything," one of the pigeons said. "You can have your eyes open and still be sleeping. I've seen it lots of times."

"No you haven't," the second pigeon said. "You've only seen it once."

"I've seen it more than once," the first pigeon said. "Remember the math man? Remember him? He was asleep and had his eyes open."

"Okay, so that makes it two," the second pigeon said. "That doesn't quality for 'lots of times.'"

"Then what does qualify?" the first pigeon asked. "'Lots' is, quantifiably, two or more."

"No," the second pigeon said. "Two is a couple. 'Lots' is more than two. You need one more example, then you can use 'lots of times.'"

"Well," the first pigeon said, "if she's sleeping, that gives me the third example, doesn't it?"

"Excuse me," Daphne said. "I'm confused."

"Of course you are," the second pigeon said. "You can't use the current situation as an example if you don't yet know if the current situation is an example, after all. It would make anyone confused."

"No, I mean, I didn't think pigeons could talk," Daphne said. The two pigeons turned to look at her and Daphne knew she had said something wrong. "I'm sorry if I said anything offensive."

"You aren't from around here, are you? Walked through a Door, did you?" the second pigeon said.

"Well...yes," Daphne said. "How did you know?"

"We aren't pigeons, m'dear," the second pigeon said. "Even though we may look like them. We're part of the Parliament of Fowls. I'm Trafalgar and this is Leicester."

"I'm sorry," Daphne said. "I still don't understand. Where am I?"

"You're between the blank borders and black letters now," Leicester said. "You're in the Storylands."

"The...Storylands?"

"Where all the stories live," Trafalgar said. "Don't worry, you'll understand in due time. Right now, I suspect you're a bit storylagged. It happens with the Doordropped - those Doors aren't very considerate. We'll help you until you can make it on your own. Heck, we'll even be your exposition guides."

"We're good at that," Leicester said. "Regular thought and memory, we are."

"Thank you," Daphne said. "I don't quite understand, but I'm glad for any help."

"Well, we try," Trafalgar said, then he and Leicester shared a look and a laugh.