I hope you enjoyed Enanika (Book 1 of the Enanika Series). I have now begun writing Sweet Dreams (Book 2).
A lot has happened in the space between Books 1 and 2.
For one thing… six years.
Here are the opening chapters.
Chapter 1: Dynamic Dancing
Six years later:
Winter moved sharply through the city streets, pushing cold wind between buildings and along tram tracks. People walked quickly, shoulders raised against it, scarves pulled close, hands wrapped around takeaway coffees.
Anu walked much more slowly, her attention moving from one thing to another, trying to orient herself to a world she had not seen for six years, and even then had not been at ease with.
The city moved with the same bustling rhythm she remembered, though some of the details had changed. Some shops had disappeared. New ones had appeared in their place. Different colours and fashions in shop windows.
A tram screeched around the corner, sparks briefly flashing overhead as it curved along the tracks. Anu looked up. The sky was flat grey, heavy with the possibility of rain. She shivered. The gentle, year-round, temperate climate of Enanika seemed very far away. She didn’t have enough layers on, and her coat was no match for the cold. Her hands were tightly stuck inside her pockets.
Passing a clothing shop, she went inside to browse, but really to get warm.
“Freezing today,” the woman at the counter muttered. “And we’re only in the first month of winter.”
The last time Anu had walked these streets, she had come to the city to let Enlan know he must return for the three-day Sirius alignment.
He didn’t return to Enanika.
And after the alignment, Anu didn’t return to Earth.
She was now thirty-nine, and Enlan would be forty-nine.
A loud latin beat burst onto the footpath. The yoga studio was gone, and in its place was a dance studio — Dynamic Dancing. The wide front windows were partly fogged from body heat and condensation. Every few moments, the studio door opened, and a wave of music and warmth escaped onto the street.
Anu stood just inside the doorway. The studio was welcoming — a commercial franchise rather than a training studio. People of all ages and body types were welcome. The teachers were young, energetic, and enthusiastic, not elite dancers. The room carried a kind of organised awkwardness.
“Oh, good, you made it!” said a man at reception. “Come in. Come in. They’ve only just started the free trial class. Not too late to join.”
He grabbed her elbow and ushered her inside.
“Alright everyone,” said a handsome male instructor about twenty-five. “Follow me. Let’s go!”
“Five-six-seven-eight!”
The dancing itself was not difficult. You didn’t need to think very much. It was all body instinct. He called out the direction and steps, and the music carried everyone forward before they had time to hesitate or analyse. Step, turn, shift, repeat. Rhythm, heat, momentum.
What a way to return to Earth, thought Anu.
Sweat, movement, heavy breathing… the sheer physicality of it reclaiming her body.
The teacher clapped loudly again.
“Great job everyone. See you next week.”
When Anu stepped back outside, she had flushed cheeks and no longer felt the cold. Behind her, the music continued pulsing through the studio walls for the next class.
If her memory served her correctly, the cafe Enlan worked at was very close to the old yoga studio, now transformed into the dance school.
She looked a few doors down.
There it was.
Chapter 2: Suit Yourself
Anu stood outside the cafe for several moments before going in.
She read the sign above the door and wondered if she had remembered incorrectly. The name was different.
Then she walked inside and saw Enlan straight away.
And he saw her.
Several glasses slipped from his overloaded arms and smashed on the ground. The crash travelled through the cafe.
Everyone stopped talking and turned.
Enlan didn’t miss a beat and casually stepped over the glass as if it were all in the course of a cafe day.
His customers, taking his cue, went back to their conversations.
Anu remained standing near the doorway.
One of the waitresses approached her.
“Table for one?”
“Yes,” said Anu.
The waitress led her towards a small table in the corner. Her preferred place, where she was relatively invisible but could watch everyone in the room.
“Can I get you something to drink?”
“Chai, thanks.”
“Any food?”
Anu shook her head. As she had only just returned, she needed to be careful with her money.
For fifteen minutes, Enlan did not come near her.
He moved constantly through the cafe, wiping benches, adjusting chairs, carrying plates, speaking to customers, checking the coffee machine, restocking glasses.
Eventually, he approached her table when she was looking elsewhere, and stood there. Not smiling. Waiting.
“The cafe name changed,” said Anu.
“Yes,” he replied. “I own it now.”
“Oh, wow,” she said. “Congratulations.”
“I managed it for five years. Bought it last year.”
“That’s wonderful.”
“There’s more money in owning my own business.”
“More money,” Anu repeated.
“Yes,” he said. “More money.”
“So you’re intending to stay here?” she asked.
“Of course.”
There was a short silence.
“One question,” said Enlan. “Could you have come back?”
Anu hesitated.
“I—”
He held her eyes.
“Could you have come back?” he asked again.
“Yes,” she admitted.
Enlan nodded, and walked away.
Anu sat quietly for another ten minutes, and then went to the counter where Enlan was on the till.
“I’m heading back to Milkwood,” she said. “To my old flat.”
Enlan mumbled something without looking up.
“The one before Michael’s house,” she explained.
“Mm.”
“I’ll take the train and bus back.”
“Right.”
“I went to the dance studio a few doors down,” she said. “Maybe I could do another class next week and come see you afterwards.”
Enlan finally looked at her.
“Suit yourself,” he said.
Enanika Series
The Enanika Series is visionary fiction exploring consciousness, identity, contact, and the meeting point between worlds.
Set between present-day Earth and the peaceful future world of Enanika, the series follows beings who move between realities — navigating human life while carrying memories, abilities, and perceptions that reach far beyond it.
Through relationships, spiritual tension, love, forgetting, remembrance, and the deep complexity of incarnation, the Enanika Series explores what it means to live as both human and more-than-human.
At the centre of the story is Anu, a contact caller from Enanika sent to Earth during a time of growing instability and transformation. In the rural town of Milkwood, she reconnects with Enlan, another being from her world whose immersion in Earth life has drawn him far from his original awareness.
Blending metaphysical insight with grounded human experience, the Enanika Series explores not only other worlds, but the hidden layers of this one.
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