After breathing in the cool welcome air of your house, you reach to the answering machine for messages.

The first, from your mother, reminds you of her trip to see you in the not-too-distant future. You wonder which new hotels to take her to, which new mall to shop, which new restaurants to check out. There are so many, you figure you'll wait till she's here to decide.

After the second beep, an unfamiliar, upbeat voice announces: "Hello, this is Brian, I'm calling to inform you about the Wicca classes you signed up for; they will be starting this Thursday, at seven p.m. Please bring a pen and notebook to Bell Book and Candle, on East Charleston. If you have any questions, call me there. I look forward to seeing you on Thursday!"

You search your memory...oh yeah! About two months ago you did sign up for some kind of classes at that neat little store with all the candles and incense. You bought a green and pink 'job' candle from a skyscraper of a man, Alex, who told you how to 'dress' it and let you burn it on the 'altar' - a large table with some knives, a sword and a large statue of a golden, winged woman.

Well, you did get a job, and it does pay well, so obviously the spell worked.

But jeez, Thursday is Friends night, and you hate missing the show.

Suddenly a thought crosses your mind - "Is that all there is to life? Making sure to watch TV?" You decide to take a chance - to break your routine and see what the classes are about. (You will tape Friends anyway.)

A week passes and the big night is here. You don't know what to dress for, so jeans and an attractive top seem good. You fix your hair and hop in the car.

At ten to seven, you arrive, finding a friendly white-robed couple at the door of the store.

"Are you here for class?" they ask.

You answer in the affirmative, and they show you to the back of the store, the room with the 'altar,' and you find twenty or so people sitting on pillows, some old, some young, some smoking, some sipping coffee.

A man in a black robe points out the bathroom, offers everyone drinks, and says class will be starting shortly. Was he wearing a crown of all things?

You start to notice the difference of some of the robes people are wearing. All the people you are sitting with are in normal street clothes, but obviously students already in classes wear robes, but why the different colors? White, black and green, black and red, black and blue...

Just then the man in the black robe (and crown) announces "We're going to get started now." He nods to a young man in a white robe, who then rings a deep-toned bell two times.

Oh here's Alex - in a black and purple robe! He sits in a chair that faces you, on the right. The chair on the left is empty.

All is quiet in the room as a stately, beautiful black-haired woman enters the room. She is wearing a black robe with purple trim, and she silently appraises the people seated on the floor.

She raises an eyebrow, and a knowing smile delights her lips.