A Sorcerer's Labyrinth: Valerie's Quest for the Unbound Realm.

"Dude, you're a witch."

"I am not a dude," Valerie said.

"Well you're not a girl then."

Valerie sighed. She always knew she would regret telling her secret to Ralph. It had just been too easy for him to figure out. "Yes, I'm a witch."

"But...but...witchcraft is..." Ralph sputtered, trying to find the words. "That's like...evil?" He finally settled on that as his conclusion. Valerie cracked a smile. She'd heard every ridiculous cliché people had about witches and they were all so far from the truth it was ridiculous.

She gently grabbed Ralph's shoulder and pulled him closer to her face so she could whisper in his ear, "No! It's not evil. You know how sometimes people say 'don't play with fire'? Well that's because fire is dangerous, but they don't mean it's evil!" Valerie felt like she was explaining something simple to a child, but she knew it was important that Ralph understood this part at least. Witches weren't evil, they were just misunderstood and feared because of their power. And because of the way they looked, but that was another issue entirely.

"So what does this mean? D-d-do you want to...to..." Ralph stuttered nervously until he couldn't even finish the thought. He certainly didn't want to offend her by asking if she wanted to be his girlfriend or something, but he really had no idea where else to go with this conversation. Obviously witches existed and he had just met one on an airplane from France to Germany, but really how do you wrap your head around something like that? Especially when she seemed pretty cool about it herself!

"Oh no," Valerie said, causing Ralph's heart to sink for a moment before she continued, "I'm here on business." She explained the basics of being a witch - charms and potions and spells - and how those things were useful sometimes in helping people with everyday problems, but also how there were other times when people sought their help because of bigger problems they couldn't solve on their own.