Wiccan

A (sort-of) Halloween story... Alex inherited an old mining town hidden deep in the Rocky mountains. Long before he was born, his mother had organized summer gatherings for her fellow witches up there. The story opens as he's preparing to open the town for the coming summer conclave. Three exerts from Wiccan... Exert #1 I have to stop here and explain that my Uncle Ted is a warlock and equally so, my Auntie Ursula is an actual witch. (Although, I need to admit that she's a little on the exotic side even by witch standards.) And you might ask, "Exotic? When I'm already talking about the occult and witches and warlocks, what could be more 'exotic' than she?" Well... There are powers that even a prudent person of the mystical arts will refuse to meddle in. I grew up with these forces lurking just beyond the veil of my little naive life. As a child, I'd seen powerful people use those forbidden powers. Sometimes, they produced miraculous events and sometimes disaster. Exert #2 My mother began these events in the 1930's during Harry Houdini's occult phase and in the middle of the depression. This was an opportunity to get away from the hucksters, the wanna-be witches and the more seamy side of the profession. When she died a few years back, I simply let the tradition of the gatherings continue. The family compound is an old mining town high in the Rockies on a small plateau. In the 1920's, mom purchased the derelict land from the state. The mines and the logging had long since played out and no one wanted to live in such a remote place. It came complete with houses, a hotel and an array of storefronts; all in reparable condition. The only way in and out was by plane or broom (and no one uses a broom any more) or the old mining railroad. Through out the summer, we use the railroad to bring in supplies. There's no telephone or cell phone service and our electricity comes from an old war surplus generator. (When it works. ) Exert #3 I ran my hand over the huge mound of my middle. Bailey was right. It didn't feel so strange this morning. (Although, being a woman now and pregnant at that was certainly strange enough.) While still lying there, I raised a leg in the air and then the other. Damn, I had inherited pretty legs. Although, they weren't as long as what I'd been used to, they were smooth and shapely. That is until my hands got to my rear. There, my legs expanded more than I would have expected. I guessed that I was going to be condemned to having a fat butt for the duration.