Posted the first part of an eight part story; part of the continuing Cynthia Chronicles. Although the story does end happily for the main characters, there are some very dark overtones. Myrna Moskowitz has been part of the series since "Cynthia and the High School Years". Although not magic, she has deep connections to most of the characters in the series, as does her husband and lover, Avery. For years Myrna was a free spirit with little religious affiliation. When she meets and falls in love with Avery, she converts to Judaism and immerses herself into Jewish history; not so much the religious aspects, but in historic events. Much of the history of Myrna's world parallels that of our earth. Major differences start to show up in the 1960s. The Viet Nam tragedy never happens, nor do the Middle East crises.

Although magic survives in this world, its survival is rather tenuous. The Wizard had quite a bit to do with magic's survival. Magic did not originate on The Wizard's world. We will find out where it came from. This world has many of the human frailties that our world does. There is bigotry, racism and misogyny. We've seen that in many of the previous stories. Unfortunately, this world is not much different than ours. What's going to happen when the existence of the "Magic" is revealed?