She stood in front of the mirror in her bathroom.  The face that stared at her was all too familiar.  It was the same face she had seen for far too long.  She lifted the pistol to her head, and she pulled the trigger.

            There was a hole in her head.  Pain shot through her, though now it was more the fear that took her.  She had tried many times before in different places on her head, her body, but nothing worked.  She didn't even get the part that controlled vision this time, so she could see her bone growing back and her skin and hair covering the fresh white.  Her head healed, she sank to the ground.  She held her head in her hands and cried.

Skyclad Soul sat near the edge of town.  It wasn’t a large shop, but it had enough space.  Victoria was straightening up the books she kept near the front of the store.  Talon was working a little further back with the jewelry and stones, and Holly was in the back room meditating.  The store was quiet with only a few customers, which was normal.  If Victoria had been worried about making a lot of money, she wouldn’t have opened a pagan shop.

            Victoria stopped to take a break.  She went outside and sat in one of the rocking chairs on the porch and listened to the wind whisper through the trees.  The advantage to being where they were was that they had a yard, they had a pavilion in the back, and they were surrounded by trees.  The leaves rustled, but instead of calming her, Victoria felt something else in them.  She listened intently as the birds chirped.  She closed her eyes and paid attention to nothing but what nature was trying to tell her.

            Victoria heard a car pull up on the pavement, heard the slight squeak of breaks, and then the engine stopped.  She heard a door open and close, and then she heard footsteps getting louder.  She felt a slight breeze as the footsteps seemed to pass by her, and then she heard the door of the shop open and close.  The wind seemed to have stopped for a moment, then it began whispering again.

            “Um, excuse me,” came a voice.  Victoria opened her eyes to look in the face of a brown eyed, brown haired young woman.  “I’m sorry to bother you,” the woman continued.

            Victoria blinked and then said, “I’m sorry.  I was in my own little world there for a bit.  May I help you?”

            “Are you the owner of this place?”

            “Yes, is there anything I can help you with?”

            “Actually,” said the girl.  She looked down, and Victoria could see that she was clutching her hands tightly.  “I was wondering if you could use a little help here…”

            “Help?”

            “Yes!”  The girl looked up, and her eyes seemed to brighten a bit.  “I don’t know much, but I could learn, and I’ve always wanted to work in a place like this.  It’s so peaceful here, and it just feels comfortable, safe.”  She bent her head back down as if embarrassed by her recent statement.

            “Well,” said Victoria thoughtfully, “Talon might like some help at the jewelry counter, and I could use some help keeping the books and herbs straight…”  The girl looked up with a smile on her face.  “But why,” continued Victoria, “here?  I’m sure there are plenty of places who would hire an eager young woman like yourself.”

            “My mother has told me stories of witches in my family, and she told me that witches are evil.  I’ve done some research, though, and I know it’s not what she thinks it is.  I want to learn, and I want to get to know more of my family’s past through this.  I know I don’t know much, but I’m willing to learn!”

            “Calm down,” said Victoria, “you almost sound desperate.  First, what’s your name?”

            “I’m sorry, that was rude of me…I’m Emily,” she said, extending her hand.

            “My name’s Victoria, but everyone calls me Vicky.”  They shook hands.  “Now, Emily, tell me what you know about witches.”

            “Well, all witches are pagans, but not all pagans are witches…”

            “That’s a start,” said Vicky with a chuckle.

            “And they follow an earth-based belief system.  Mother Nature is sacred and all that…”

            “Okay.  Anything else?”

            “Rituals are important to some, but not to others.  The books seem to agree on eight major holidays, though…”

            “Are you okay with minimum wage?”

            “What?”

            “Are you okay with making minimum wage?”

            “Are you serious?  Are you going to give me the job?”

            “Well, who am I to turn away someone who wants to know?”  Vicky led her in and got out an application.  “I just need you to fill this out, Emily, and we can get you started tomorrow, if you’re available.”

            “I’m ready now, if you need me!”  Emily filled out the application much faster than Vicky had ever seen anyone do it, as if the wind itself were moving her through it.  There was something familiar about her, but Vicky couldn’t figure out what it was.

            “I think tomorrow will be just fine,” said Vicky taking the application.  “We don’t have many customers today, and we have a workshop tomorrow you can participate in if you wish.”

            “What kind of workshop?” asked Emily.

            “It’s a past-life regression workshop that Holly does from time to time.  It’s very popular and has helped many work past some of the issues of their past, from lives they don’t remember.”

            “You believe in reincarnation?”

            “Many pagans do.  There are many cultures that swore by it in the past, and those looking to the faith of their ancestors find that it was a common belief, or maybe I should say that the people knew it was real.  It was truth to them, after all.”

            “Wow…”  Emily seemed to be completely amazed at the revelation.  “I have a lot to learn!”

            “Get plenty of rest tonight,” said Victoria, “and I’ll see you at 7 in the morning.”

            “But I thought the shop didn’t open until 9.”

            “It doesn’t, but we have to make sure we’re prepared for the day, and I want to take the chance to introduce you to your coworkers.”  Vicky watched as Emily left the shop.

            “Who was that?”  Talon had left his post and was leaning on the checkout counter.

            “That was Emily, and she’ll be working here starting tomorrow.”

            “Oh,” said Talon.  “She’s pretty.”

            “Yes, she is,” agreed Vicky, smiling.

            “Do you think she’ll work out?  She seems...”

            “She seems what?”

            “I don’t know,” replied Talon.  “She seems like an airhead, I guess.”  He stood up straight and stretched.  He was 6 feet tall, when he stood up straight, and he had short dirty blond hair and stormy gray eyes.  “Do we even need anyone else here?”

            “That’s not up to you, is it?”  Vicky glared at him, though she had to look up to do so.

            “I guess not,” he shrugged.  “But why her?  There are plenty of people who know what this is all about who would work here.”

            “I know, but there’s something about her.  She seems familiar, but I don’t know why or how.”

            “Is this intuition kicking in?”  There was sarcasm in his voice, but there was the need to know.  “You seem to have a feeling about a lot of things.”

            “Some of those feelings are just from experience.  It may just be intuition, but it may be more.  Only time will tell.  Now, leave me be, I’ve got some books to shelve.  Don’t you have some work you need to be doing as well?”  Vicky lifted a box from under the counter and walked to where she had been straightening books earlier. 

            “Yes, ma’am,” said Talon, taking the hint.  He ambled over to the jewelry counter and opened a box he had been putting off.  He went to a display case, opened it, and started arranging quartz points.  He would put one down, and then another, then move them all about, look at them, and then move them again.  He made noises as he thought.

            “Is the job too hard for you?” asked Vicky.  “I could always ask that girl to come back and take over for you.”  Vicky could hear a gasp, then a sigh.

            “It’s done,” said Talon as he locked the display case and moved on to another filled with crystal skulls.

            “Good,” said Vicky, “I was afraid I was going to have to lose you.  I can’t have someone who can’t even place crystals on a shelf.”

            “That’s not all it is,” argued Talon.  “You have to make it look nice or you’ll never sell anything!  Aren’t you the one who told me that?”  He was raising his voice far more than necessary, and Vicky was a little worried that he may disturb Holly.

            “So, you were listening.  I was afraid that you hadn’t heard a word I said during your training.  Because you were such a good student, maybe I should have you train Emily?”

            “What! Me?”  He seemed to lighten up a bit at the thought.

            “Well, you grew up in a magical household, you know the lore behind the stones, the uses of the herbs, and the purpose of the tools.  Who better to teach her?”

            “Isn’t it the boss’ job to train new hires?”

            “Sometimes the boss will get the help of a trusted employee.  Do you think you’re not up for the job?”

            “I…I can do it!”  Talon gulped. 

            “Just don’t go too hard on her, okay?  Remember, she’s new to all of this.  She grew up in a home where those like us were seen as evil.  You may have to take it slowly with her.”

            “I’ll do my best, ma’am!”  Vicky turned to see him salute and she smiled.  She hoped he wouldn’t be too enthusiastic and scare her new recruit away.

            As she went back to stocking books, Vicky thought.  Emily…she knew that name.  It was a name she had held in her heart for a very long time.  It was a common enough name, though, and she worked hard to push the negative memories from her mind.

Emily showed up at the shop right at 7 the next morning.  She was wearing a long blue gauze skirt and a blue blouse, and she had her hair falling free from her head.  She grabbed at the hem of her shirt and kept pulling at it.

            “Nervous?” asked Vicky. 

            “N-no!” blurted Emily.  “I mean, well, it’s my first day and all, so I wanted to make sure everything went right.  Do I look okay?”  Her eyes had a look of pleading in them.

            “You’re beautiful,” said Vicky, “and there’s no reason to be nervous.  We all had our first days, and we’ll have them again.  Most first days go just fine, and not all days are going to be perfect.  We live and we learn, and today, you will be learning.”  She opened the door to the shop and lead Emily inside.  When they were in, she closed the door and locked it.  Holly and Talon were standing staring at the newbie.

            “Is this her?” asked Holly.  She wore her hair in a bob to her shoulders, and her cotton pants and shirt made her look a little frumpy.  “Is she really that pretty?”  She looked at Talon, who could only blush.

            “What?” asked Emily, genuinely confused.

            “Nothing,” laughed Talon.  “I’m Talon, and this is Holly.” 

            “I-it’s a p-pleasure to meet you,” said Emily, looking down.  “I’m Emily.”

            “I never pegged you for the shy-type,” said Holly, looking up at Talon.  Talon turned even redder.

            “She wasn’t this shy when asking me for a job yesterday,” said Vicky.  “Anyway, I want her to participate in your regression this morning Holly, and she’ll be working with Talon for the rest of the time, I think.”

            “Are you sure it’s wise to put him with her?” asked Holly.  “He might scare her away.”

            Talon glared at Holly.  “Are you sure you won’t be the one scaring her?”

            “And how would I do that?  I’m not the one hitting on customers all the time.”

            “I don’t hit on them all the time!  You’ve got to tell the customers what they want to hear if you want to get them to buy your stuff.  I just do that…”  Talon turned and looked the other way.

            “Anyway,” said Victoria to Emily, “if you want to learn about some of the basics of the faiths and some of the folklore behind what many just consider to be superstition, like the meanings behind stones and herbs, then Talon is one of the best people to ask.  I’ll let you get started with him now.  You can help him refill some of the gemstone containers.  Be sure to read the explanations of the stones on the containers as you fill them.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” said Emily as she turned and followed Talon to the jewelry counter.

            “Do you really think she’ll be okay?” asked Holly.

            “She will be.  Talon will help draw out her personality, I think.  She’s acting differently than when she asked for the job yesterday, but I think she’ll fit in when she gets her bearings.”  The two watched as Talon handed Emily an open box.  He pointed and directed her to a shelf with some gemstones on it.  She went to it and placed the box on the floor very carefully.  She took a bag out of the box and looked at it.  She looked at the shelf and found the container with the right stones.  She tried to open the bag, but it wouldn’t budge for her.  She tried pulling from both ends, and it was obvious how this was going to turn out.  She ripped the bag in two and the stones went flying to the ground.  She quickly fell to the ground and started picking up the stones while apologizing.  Talon was there to help her right away, and he tried to calm her down.  “She’ll be alright,” concluded Victoria as she turned to the front counter and started filling out paperwork.

            “I’m sorry,” said Emily for the millionth time as she stood up.  Her hands were full of agate stones, and she was afraid to unclench her fingers.  She didn’t want the stones falling to the floor again.

            “It’s okay, I told you, and we all make mistakes.  It’s not like the stones will break.”  Talon got up and dropped his stones in the container.  “Here,” he held his hand out.  “Give me the stones and I’ll put them up.”

            “I can do it.”  Emily shook her head.  He raised her hands and dropped the stones in their container, one by one.  She then turned her head and looked back at Victoria, who had moved behind the front counter.  She had her head down and was writing on some papers.  “I was so confident yesterday,” whispered Emily.  “I went up to her and practically begged for the job.  So why am I so nervous now?”

            “Maybe because it’s your first day?” hazarded Talon.  “I know I was nervous.  I kept tripping over my own feet.”

            “You did?” laughed Emily.  She smiled a bit.

            “I did, and now that I think about it, it is really funny.  I made a real mess of things, but Victoria and Holly helped me out.  We’re a family here, and that’s what makes working here so much fun.  It’s like it isn’t even work.”

            “That sounds nice,” replied Emily.  “I’ve never had a job like that.  Work was just work.  I went, did my job, and then went back home.  That was it.  Nothing more.”

            “Well,” said Talon, “you’ll find out what it’s like to enjoy your job if you actually get these stones put out.”

            “Right, I had forgotten about that.”

            “Take your time and read their uses.  People who come in here aren’t buying stones just because they look pretty.  They buy them for a purpose, and it’ll help to know what those purposes are.”

            Emily bent down and drew up a bag of purple stones.  Some had some white rivers running through them, and she read the word “amethyst.” The paper with the container said it was sometimes used as a dream stone, sometimes for protection against witchcraft, and was a power stone to focus energy.  She stared at the little purple stones and wondered how such a beautiful little thing could be used for so much.  She realized she had a lot to learn in that moment.  There was far more behind all this than she thought.  It was more than just a difference in what the main deity was called.  There was history and folklore behind what they did.  But where did all this meaning come from?

            It wasn’t long before the store opened, and a few people came trickling in to wander around the eclectic store.  Emily was still filling up stone containers, but she stopped every once in a while when a customer greeted her.  She would sometimes ask them why they were choosing certain stones, and she listened intently.  She finished emptying the box in this manner, and it seemed hardly any time at all had passed when it came time for the regression session with Holly.