Mary was taken out of her trance by the ringing of her doorbell. 'Who could that be this early on a Saturday?' she wondered.
She left her bedroom and carefully approached her front door. The bell rang again. "Who is it?" Mary called.
"It's Jess!" came a faint voice from the other side of the door.
Mary slapped her forehead. She remembered that her friend Jess was going to take her to lunch today. Mary had recently gotten her out of a scrape at work, and Jess insisted on showing her appreciation.
'Should I let her see me like this?' Mary thought to herself, looking at her furry forearms. Her eyes drifted to the box of vials she had left on the table. Maybe she could convince Jess to join her in experimenting with the potions they contained.
Mary opened the door and saw her friend, a twenty-something with shoulder-length black hair and a cute round face. She was dressed minimally for the warm weather. Jess' eyes went wide when she saw Mary's long silver hair.
She began to laugh. "What's with the wig?" she gasped between chuckles.
"Come on in," Mary said. "I've got something to show you that you wouldn't believe."