The group was stunned. After all, the little witch struck them as ordinary, maybe even diminutive. Her looks were normal, as were her clothes and jewelry. All in all, she looked like a regular person, someone who could be described, contemptuously by some, as "one of the little people."

    She did not seem at all to be powerful, beautiful or important. Still, she had said she was a Witch ! Maybe she was in disguise, using a kind of glamour to keep others from seeing her power or her beauty. As the thought simultaneously crossed the girls' minds, they became excited. Then, their expressions changed, as if they had found a wonderful surprise. The girls showed expressions of joy and started plying the little witch with questions. 

    "So, you're like a *real* Witch?" the third girl asked.

    "Yes," Little Witch replied.

    "Have you been doing it long? the second girl asked.

    "Long enough," said Little Witch.

    "Oh wow, so like maybe you could answer some questions," said the first girl. "We're, like, new to this. But, we just *know* we're witches, and we, like, totally believe in it."
"I'll do my best," said Little Witch with a smile.


    The girls thought a moment. One of them asked, "So, can you fly?"

    Little Witch laughed and said, "Only in an airplane, and that's when the flight hasn't been overbooked."

    The girls were a little startled, but only for a moment. "Can you, like, move things with your mind? You know, like maybe when you're really angry at something?"

    Little Witch momentarily thought back to her last grocery shopping expedition, when she had foolishly chosen the "express" lane and learned anew the virtue of patience. "No," Little Witch said, "I can only move things with my hands or with machines and sometimes with luck."

    Not put off, the third girl asked with a nervous giggle, "Well, can you stop time?"
I wish, the Little Witch thought. "No, I can't stop time, though certain hair products help slow it down a little..." the Little Witch added with a chuckle.

    "But, you've got, like, powers, right?" the third girl continued.

    Little Witch sighed and said, "The only *powers* I have are from developing my talents and skills. And I do that through hard work, determination, and patience."

    "Aren't you even psychic?" the first girl asked.

    Little Witch smiled to herself as she recalled the last time she totally missed something obvious.

    "I'm about as psychic as anyone else," said Little Witch. "I may have worked on it more than most folks. But, I don't have anything special. I get intuitions.

    Sometimes I can sense what others are feeling or that they're worried about something, but that could be just as much from reading body language and context than anything psychic."

    "Sometimes I get a dream that comes true or a flash of what might be. And there are some deeper things I can, with effort, perceive. But, that's about it. If I were really psychic, I'd be rich from the lottery or the stock market !"

    "*Can* you predict the lottery?" the first girl asked excitedly.

    "No," replied Little Witch with annoyance.
   
    "But, you, like, practice magic, right?" asked the second girl. "You make things happen."

   
    The Little Witch smiled and said, "Yes, I do practice magic. But when it works, which doesn't always happen, it's pretty unspectacular. It helps things work out. It doesn't make stuff materialize out of thin air. It's not like the special effects you see on TV or movies. It's another way for natural laws to operate; it's *not* a way to break or get around natural laws."

    "Can you make someone like you?" impatiently asked the third girl.

Continued