• The water rippled as Jamie removed her foot from its icy depths.
    She shivered slightly; it was winter, and the water was very cold.

    She often came down to this stretch of the river. It was serenely quiet, her own personal space. A breath of silence in a loud, busy world.

    The huge ragged trees that concealed this place from the rest of the world rustled in the breeze, as though shaking off the light dusting of snow that had settled on them during the night, and Jamie smiled a secret smile to herself, revelling in the beauty of this hidden world.

    Outside of here, she was no-one, an average teenage girl, with normal problems, normal dislikes and desires, and a normal, busy life. Her life was boring and unremarkable, rushed and stressful, utterly - frustratingly - mundane.

    But inside, everything was different. A safe haven, a place where she could rest, could just stop, and could do whatever she felt like without fear of being judged.

    To be in a world in which she was the only inhabitant was to be the most important person in that world, and it made her feel very special, because Jamie knew that she was the only person who ever came here.

    At least, she thought she did.