Ill, and bored with having to stay in bed, Marianne picks up a pencil and starts doodling, a house, a garden, a boy at the window That night she has an extraordinary dream She is transported into her own picture, and as she explores further she soon realises she is not alone She meets Mark, who is sick and alone, and as Marianne returns to her picture world night after night, the two children become friends But it is not an easy friendship they are both frustrated by their illnesses and often become angry with each other