�You�re a lucky baby,� Diane cooed to her infant son, who was sleeping quietly in her lap. After a long, bumpy, hot ride, the islander arrived at a small shack that was sitting alone on a remote beach.

�This is it?� Diane said, staring disbelievingly at the hovel.

�Yes, ma�am. He�s probably around.�

�Could you wait for me, just in case?�

�Sure, I�ll wait around until you come out and wave at me.�

Diane dug in her purse and handed the man a few extra bills. He smiled broadly and thanked her. He helped her get her bags out of the car and carried them to the cottage. Diane walked around inside and didn�t see anyone. She saw a bottle of massage oil on the end table next to the side chair. She picked it up and read the label. Coconut and passion fruit. She sighed and put the oily bottle down. Several canvases were perched on easels around the room with half-finished images of a woman with dark, curly hair. She recognized her own face, asleep on her pillow. In her bedroom. As if he had been standing in her bedroom, watching her sleep. Diane stared at them as long as she could, but she got chills and had to turn away.

On the opposite wall was a low bookcase made of teak. Diane walked over and flipped through the titles: Techniques of Astral Projection; Leaving the Body: A Complete Guide to Astral Projection; Have an Out-Of-Body Experience in 30 Days: The Free Flight Program...

�That one will save your daddy some airfare, right, baby?� Diane cooed to her newborn. �Boy, he sure does his homework,� Diane whispered as she combed through the rest of his bookcase: three volumes of the Exploring the Afterlife Series; four books by or about Monroe�s Journeys; The Astral Projection Workbook: How to Achieve Out of Body Experiences; Out of Body Adventures: 30 Days to the Most Exciting Experience of Your Life; Projection of the Astral Body...

Diane laughed and read the last title out loud: �Oh, Mikie, this one has to be my favorite so far: Traveling the Interstate of Consciousness: A Driver's Instruction Manual: Using Hemi-Sync to Access States of Non-Ordinary Reality by Patricia Leva. Unbelievable.�

Diane put down the books and walked through a back door that let out onto the beach. Juggling her baby and the Everything bag, she plodded through the sand. She was drawn to a stand of palms on the east end of the beach.

�Oh yeah, I�m sure I�ve been here before. Many times,� she breathed heavily, scanning the bases of the palm trees with eager eyes.