He was standing in the white room.

The hair on the nines' backs was raised and their barking was deafening, though both their tails were wagging. Perhaps feeling they had carried out their duty, they squawked happily, and came over to snuffle at his clothes and feet. Their claws clicked on the tiled floor. He felt warm tongues lick his fingers. He couldn't help but feel delighted.

He turned back to the ring, and his heart rose up into his throat. It was gone. All he saw there was a blank white wall.

I'm only dreaming, he thought. It's okay. I'll wake up soon.

But he couldn't be certain of that.

He looked around the room. He saw plaster walls and ceiling, taps, a sink with dishes and pots drying on it, something that looked like it might be a hob, except that it was not dirty and black but shiny and white; clear canisters containing powders of different colours, stacked on a shelf above the hob (was this an apothecary?); a shiny white thing standing against the wall, taller than he was, which made a gentle humming sound he could hear now that the barking had stopped; strange long yellow fruits piled up in a bowl, amongst which he spotted some green apples; a table upon which lay what was clearly a newspaper, though strangely it was in colour, as if it had been painted rather than printed; and (Ward gulped when he saw it) a row of books on a shelf, above a rectangular device with a glass window and green glowing numbers above a set of buttons.

Strangest of all was the morning sun pouring through the window above the sink. It could not possibly be morning yet. Could it? Outside the window he could see a wooden fence, above which rose the tops of trees and a pale sky. He did not know this part of the island. He thought he had explored every corner of it, but had never come across a house. Eblis was meant to be uninhabited.

He turned back to the wall from where he had come and ran his hands over it. It seemed real enough. He tapped it with his knuckles (which made the nines start barking again). It sounded hollow. Was the tunnel still there behind it? How then had he passed through the wall?

This line of thought was interrupted by a shout from another room, then a man burst through the door. The nines raced to the man's feet and turned to face Ward, the hair on their backs rising again and their barks taking on an aggressive note. At any other time Ward might have found this funny. The man stopped when he saw Ward, and his face drained of colour.

I like dogs and I like dores,

I also like the movie Jaws,

If you like my poetry,

See a doctor immediately.