INT. HOUSE HALLWAY

Barbara, Lotte, Dearbhla and Shay enter the house. Lotte looks particularly impressed with the place.

LOTTE

Oh, it’s lovely!

BARBARA

It’s Maura’s house.

DEARBHLA

(slightly wary)

You live with Maura?

BARBARA

No. She drops by though. MAURA?

RABBIT (O.S.)

SHE’S GONE. SHE TOOK CIAN HOME.

BARBARA

Ready to meet everyone?

INT. KITCHEN

Ted, Rabbit and Twimii are sitting at the table. There is a plate of cookies between Ted and Rabbit who are drinking tea with the cookies.

There are more cookies on a wire tray on the counter, and Cow is taking out the last batch from the oven when they enter.

Ted looks at the new people, relaxed and friendly. Rabbit looks a bit more cautious.

In front of Twimii is a stack of notebooks and lots of different sorts of pens.

She has one open directly in front of her, which she is writing in. It looks kind of like a school girl’s doodles and among the squiggly shapes are words that are written in large rounded letters, words like LOVE, LIGHT, FREEDOM, that sort of thing, and she is filling in the words in different colors and patterns.

She is very engrossed in what she is doing and doesn’t look at the newcomers.

Lotte, Dearbhla and Shay are looking around at the kitchen and its occupants with slight amazement. Lotte’s good humour seems to have dimmed a little and Barbara looks at the gang remembering how odd they looked to her when she first saw them.

For a moment she is unsure how to introduce everybody or what to say at all and there is small moment of awkward silence.

SHAY

This place smells amazing.

Cow beams up at him and quickly slides some cookies from the wire tray onto a plate. She goes over to Shay with the plate. He takes one and makes a noise like it’s delicious. Cow is delighted and offers Dearbhla and Lotte. They take the cookies but they are more hesitant about biting into them.

LOTTE

Those costumes… They’re … They look very …

TWIMII

They’re not costumes. This is Ted, Rabbit and Cow.

Twimii looks up at them.

TWIMII

And I’m a regular human being like all of you. - I’m Twimii. Hi.

LOTTE

How?

TWIMII

How d’you mean how? I was born[]

DEARBHLA

How do you have all this stuff, like things to write with? How do have all of this stuff?

LOTTE

That isn’t what I meant. I meant[]

TWIMII

I got these off Maura.

She stands the book up on the table with the pages open towards the visitors and is leafing through it showing what’s she’s done.

TWIMII

It’s meant to be the encoded sacred text of our religion. In the same vein as the Book of Kells.

SHAY

The Book of Kells isn’t encoded. It’s in Latin.

TWIMII

No. I know. It’s just in the same sort of style.

DEARBHLA

It’s really not.

TWIMII

It’s close enough for aliens.

LOTTE

You’re aliens?

TED

No.

LOTTE

But you came out of the fog?

Ted, Rabbit and Cow all object to this saying NO.

RABBIT

We have nothing to do with any of this.

DEARBHLA

So who are the aliens?

TWIMII

Well … We think maybe what is going on here is an alien invasion and … Maura and them are … maybe aliens? But maybe they’re just … psychologists?

LOTTE

But - so what are you? What are you all doing here?

TED

We don’t know what we are. We only remember the last 10 years or so. And we just ended up here three days ago - trying to escape the fog.

COW

(quietly)

We’re magical creatures.

SHAY

Well … Everybody’s a magical creature really. Life is magic.

Everybody, apart from Twimii, is rather surprised by this comment from Shay.

TWIMII

Thank you. Exactly.

Shay sees Cow looking a little stung.

SHAY

But you lot are clearly a more mysterious type of magic.

She beams up at him again.

COW

What’s your name? Your names?

SHAY

Shay.

LOTTE

Lotte.

DEARBHLA

Dearbhla. - You wouldn’t have any regular tea or coffee, would ye?

TWIMII

I’ve asked Maura for some.

RABBIT

Twimii thinks there’s something up with the tea.

BARBARA

So does Dearbhla.

Dearbhla takes a bite of her cookie and sits down in front of Twimii.

DEARBHLA

Could you ask her about getting locks put on the doors?

TWIMII

I can’t. This is Maura’s house.

Lotte is still looking uncertain. Shay seems fairly at ease though.

BARBARA

I’ll go get more chairs.

She leaves and Rabbit follows her.