The Witch's spellbook

Adam sighed and rolled his eyes as Helen revealed her latest purchase from an impromptu shopping trip.

"Hey! Don't judge this dusty old book by its cover," Helen said with a grin. "This is more than another old nick-nack to go on a shelf."

"Is that so!" Adam said sounding less than convinced. His girlfriend had become obsessed with filling their new home with countless trinkets and ornaments since they moved in a few weeks ago.

"If you'd just let me explain what it is, you'd understand why I got it," Helen replied. "This book is over a century old and has been used by several very powerful witches! We are very lucky to have it in our possession." The blonde haired woman finished with a flourish, unable to contain her excitement.

"I'm sorry, several witches?" her boyfriend sniggered. "Please tell me your mum didn't drag you into that ridiculous antique shop again!"

"You are such a cynic! Why can't you just have fun with these sort of things." Helen pouted half mockingly, half disappointed by Adam's reaction to the book. She had hoped he would be intrigued by its history and that they might look through it together. Who knows, maybe they could try casting a spell. His response suggested he had no interest in it at all.

Adam registered Helen's disappointment and felt a pang of regret. He had been a little short-tempered lately and unwilling to humour her whims. "I'm sorry," he said sheepishly as he rubbed his bearded chin. "Why don't we have a look at it upstairs in the office? Maybe we can try reading a few spells?"

Without a moment's thought, Helen grabbed Adam's hand and dragged him upstairs.

*************

Helen's giddy excitement rapidly disappeared. The couple had been trying to make sense of the book for almost an hour and had managed to read only a few words and sentences throughout its seemingly endless pages.

"How can it be so hard to read! It's clearly English," Helen whined as she swayed in her desk chair, her bare feet brushing up against Adam's legs.

"Maybe we're not reading it the right way, the pages... wait!" Adam suddenly stopped, pointing to the top of a page they had previously missed. "This one makes sense! Astral projection spell. This spell can be cast by even beginners, allowing them to separate their spirit from their mortal shell." His eyes darted across the page as he scanned the instructions written in a scratchy, cursive script.

"Why did you stop reading? Hey! I can read it too," Helen chirped as she joined her boyfriend in reading the page. "It says you can even enter another's body when you're in spirit form and 'wrest control' from them. That sounds fun!"

"Well why don't you try it then?" Adam chuckled, gesturing towards the tome.