Birds sang from the branches hanging over Gabriella, golden mango fruits dotted the canopy like jewels and the scent of honey settled around her. She blinked and pushed herself up, something was wrong, where was she? A small brown bird hopped in front of her, tilting it's head, seemingly with no fear.

A rock dug into her leg so she shifted it, making the bird flit up to a branch. Gabriella groaned, her head hurt and she had no idea where she was. The last thing she remembered was getting to her hotel on the day she arrived. She looked around, taking in anything that could trigger a memory and noticed the blanket. It was the only thing she was wearing, her clothes were in a neat pile nearby.

Scattered around the area were some woven grass mats and some bottles. Had it been a party? Had she gotten so drunk that her memories were gone? Breathing into her hand proved pointless, she couldn't tell what her breath smelt like. Wait! Had she been raped? Gabriella wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and checked her body. It seemed unmarked but that was strange, even the scar on her knee was gone, something gained from falling off a scooter at age ten.

Instead of over thinking, Gabriella decided to put her clothes on, they weren't damaged so it was likely that she had undressed herself. Her bag was nearby and contained everything she usually packed, including her camera. Nothing had been taken as far as she knew and her water bottles were full. She checked for her notes and found six mangoes in the bag just like the fruit above, they smelt gorgeous. She picked one up when her stomach gurgled and tried to peel it to take a bite, this was tricky as her fingernails were too short.

The juice ran down the outside of it so she instinctively licked the fruit. Out of hunger she took a bite and the peel dissolved in her mouth, closing her eyes at the taste she took another and another until she was licking her empty fingers. That was the best mango Gabriella had ever tasted, she opened her eyes and realised she had eaten the pip as well as the skin. Biting her lip, Gabriella wondered if the fruit was drugged.

She zipped her bag up after drinking some water, it was so fresh and didn't have the after taste that water gets in warm plastic bottles. But when had the headache disappeared? Maybe she had just been thirsty, she stretched and picked up the blanket, it was too nice to leave behind and it felt like a waste to just dump it. It also felt wrong to leave the place in a mess so she started to gather the scattered mats and other objects, stacking them neatly by the tree. Would someone come back to collect these things or should she take the rubbish?

The pile of discarded objects were mostly made up of organic materials and her bag was already full so she sifted through it, only picking up plastic packaging and some glass bottles. A single plastic carrier bag proved the perfect find and she filled it. With the tidy up complete, Gabriella took another look at the place she found herself.

Flowers were everywhere and massive butterflies took advantage of that, in fact all the insects were large. Beyond the shade of the mango tree, a meadow filled with life filled a massive open area and beyond it a mature forest surrounded her. It was beautiful and untouched, as if this place was far from the destruction in the rest of Cameroon. Was she near any town? How far from the hotel was she and how long had she slept?

Some kind of antelope skipped into the grass, it looked straight at her, blinking it's large almond eyes. The small bird from before flew to the animal, landing on its head, chirping. Strangely she knew they were talking about her. Was this place a dream? How could it be real? But she knew it was!

Voices whispered around her but she couldn't see anyone, only plants and animals. She focused on each voice, tracking its origin. That was a snake, this was a snail, over there a lion laying in the shade and even the mango tree had a voice. It was crazy but Gabriella didn't feel confused, she knew that they were speaking and felt connected to them. Even the lion wasn't scary and she almost walked towards it, mistaking him to be the leader.

Something was different, Gabriella felt strong and with it came confidence. It was a new feeling, at the back of her mind she always had some doubts but now there were none. She asked herself questions and found the answers just came to her, they felt true. She turned to the tree and walked up to the trunk, placing her palm on the bark.

"I don't remember this place but I know you can understand me, I hear your voices. You are part of me, we are family. I need to go back but know this, I feel deep inside that this is my home so I will return. Thank you for looking after me but I have to finish what I started. Can the bird show me the way back? Weaver Bird, I know your name, can you do that for me?" Gabriella said.

Weaver Bird chirped and flew back to the mango tree, who rustled in response. Although they didn't seem to be speaking, Gabriella heard them, understanding instantly.

"Who is Felix?" Gabriella asked.

Weaver Bird chirped at her tilting her head and half opening her wings in agitation.

"I'm married! He's my husband? I would know, I don't remember anything like that. Where is he?" Gabriella wondered.

The tree rustled an explanation.

"He's waiting for me to remember him? Why can't he just explain it himself?" She grumbled.

She shook her head, why couldn't she remember? Weaver Bird flew ahead, stopping occasionally to wait for her and Gabriella rushed after her, taking one last look back. Was she completely gone in the head, talking to herself was bad enough but hearing animals and plants speak was something else. It wasn't the time to think about that, she had to get back, if only to figure out what had happened.

Soon she arrived in an area with much younger trees and a narrow dirt road, here the trees were just trees and animals just animals. Weaver Bird paused on a branch and cocked her head to the side, chirping a goodbye. Then she was gone, what now? She couldn't understand any creatures here, everything was back to normal. Gabriella sighed and looked in her bag, finding both the camera and phone completely dead. At least she had some cash, she could get a taxi to the hotel and charge them both.

Out of the corner of her eye a man stood in the shade of a plantian palm, she turned but he was gone, was that Felix? It was crazy, what a joke, Gabriella chuckled to herself. It was impossible for her to forget being married to someone, it was probably just a really intense party and whatever she had eaten or drunk was starting to wear off. But if that was the case who had been at the party with her? Could she have been so out if it that she had somehow done something out of character?

Which way now? She looked around, this road led to a slightly wider dirt road and there was even a small shelter with someone sitting outside. It seemed familiar, there were small cling film parcels containing roasted peanuts piled inside a bowl and some drinks stacked in the shade. If this was a small shop, maybe she had been here before.

"Hey white, some peanuts and coke, you like? Back for more, hah!" He said in French, but Gabriella translated it in her mind instantly.

Her French was normally quite basic but now she also knew that the sixteen year old boy was pleased that she had returned safely and hoped to have a new rich customer. He also had pride in his area that no harm had come to her and other thoughts started to crowd in. Gabriella looked away and rubbed her temples, she wasn't translating his language at all, she was reading his mind.

Maybe she had drunk some serious happy juice and it was still affecting her! She turned back and nodded, pointing to the peanuts and cola. Gabriella wasn't hungry or thirsty but she still wanted to help this boy out. She gave him the few small coins he asked for, adding a small tip. Not too large to make him suspicious or too small to make him feel slighted.

"Taxi?" Gabriella said, not attempting any bad French.

He grinned and pointed further along the road where a cluster of buildings could be seen through the trees. Gabriella smiled at him, catching his wish to support his younger sister in school and for his family to have enough money to buy a small piece of land. He regretted that his small brother had been sent away to work in another family and wanted to protect his sister from a worse fate. He would get to go to school but would belong to them.

Again she looked away, his brother had been sold, essentially into slavery. Did that kind of thing still happen? This boy wasn't starving to death but poverty was killing his family slowly. Was this just something she imagined? Gabriella wanted to walk away but she couldn't do it. Her turning back made him confused.

Why was this tourist hesitating, did she want her money back? He might only make this much the whole day, he wanted to buy some soap and meat in the market. He sighed, what would be would be, if only the stories his grandmother told were true. Imagining the golden lion could grant him a wish, he would ask for a job. With regular pay, not this place were he had to pay back to the owner most of what he earned. Although the lion always asked for something in return.

Gabriella pulled a notebook and pen from her bag and wrote an email address with her name, tearing the page to pass it to the boy. She looked at him seriously.

"Your name? Nom? Travail? In about six months? Um, in six mois?" She asked.

He looked stunned, was she offering him a job? Has his wish come true? Was there a lion? He spun, looking for the tricky spirit who usually asked for a price. There was no lion but a cockerel was staring at him, wings slightly raised as if ready to attack. They usually only did that when protecting their hens but he couldn't see any. He took the paper and the bird stepped forward as if he was too close, he laughed imagining the tourist was one of his girls!

Gabriella turned to see it and the bird turned away, calm, pecking and scratching at the roadside. She smiled, feeling relieved, happy to see the bird but not knowing why. She passed her note book to the boy and he quickly wrote his name and a phone number of a family member, an uncle. She put it in her bag and shook his hand, noticing he was sick but how did she know?

He wouldn't make it past two months, what could she do? Asking herself seemed to work, Gabriella frowned and walked to the roadside plucking three different plants and gave them to him, he looked at the plants blankly.

"Medicine? Um, sorry, I can't explain. I'll write it and if you can find someone who understands, it will save your life." Gabriella wrote a quick explanation and sketched the plants, leaving another page of her notebook in his hands.

A few minutes later she was in a taxi, on her way back to the hotel. A cockerel sat on the roof, perching on the taxi sign without the driver's knowledge.

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There have been some changes in Gabriella, she is somehow able to read minds and know things!

What impact do you think this will have on the people around her?