Where in the Ether is Willow the Seeker?
By Charlene Alaimo

Ahem, attention potential Seekers. ATTENTION!

Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Mack E. Bellie, scholar extraordinaire. For those of you with a limited vocabulary, scholar extraordinaire means remarkable student. At least, that's what everyone in my family tells me. I'll give you a brief description of myself. Like you, I am a student at Seeker College. Unlike you, I am a senior and a W.A. (Wizard’s Assistant) with special privileges. Certain classmates complain that my uncle gave me those special privileges. Well, Uncle GOK has every right to reward whom ever he wants. They're just jealous--but I'd deserve special treatment even if I wasn’t GOK's favorite nephew.

It was his decision to recommend me as a tutor to Willow the Seeker. The fact that Mommy called him fifty times had NOTHING to do with him offering me the job. He knows that I have the highest grade point average at Seeker College. Besides, he knows that I need the extra money for my secret experiments--er, I mean, my independent studies.

You didn't see this artist's rendering of my secret lab... er, I mean, my science project.

My plans to be hired as a tutor have been delayed for awhile. It seems that only students on probation can be assigned a tutor. A grade of “D” or lower will put a student on probation, and a student on probation for two grading cycles faces expulsion. Willow’s grade for her Sacred Site assignment in Atlantis was an “A”. This bumped her grade up and took her off the probation list, at least for now. But I have a feeling that her grades could fall again in the very near future.

Let me tell you about the interesting thing that happened to me on my way to the campus photographer. Once again, my picture will hang on the Honor Wall. This semester I wanted a professional to take my photo for the school’s gallery. The last few pictures were awful. They made my skin look green, my eyes look squinty and my mouth had a nasty twist.

Crossing the campus green, Willow ran into me. She was out of breath. Seems she had volunteered to work at the Pagan Food Kitchen for the underprivileged (what a show-off) and was running late (typical of her lack of planning). I noticed that she was carrying an envelope with her answer to the most recent Sacred Site assignment. Being a “helpful” fellow, I volunteered to bring her paper to my uncle’s office. Willow was so grateful.

After my photo shoot, I went to Uncle GOK’s office. He's away for a week and left me his keys to pick up his mail and chase away any stray animals (seems cats break into his office and scratch up his furniture). After locking the door and closing the blinds, I opened Willow’s assignment--hey, it's my right as a W.A.! Anyway, here's her report--and typed so neatly!

Well what do you know--she got it right. I'm very surprised. I mean, she kept pestering Alistair and me with questions the whole time we were there. This assignment will definitely take her off of probation, which means no tutoring job for me. Oops! Her envelope slipped from my hands and fell on the floor... and it appears that my boot accidentally kicked it under Uncle GOK’s desk. I’m sure he’ll find it during spring cleaning. It’s too bad he takes off points for lateness. By the time he sees this answer, her grade will be worth nothing. She'll definitely be needing a tutor!

To you potential Seekers, you better not warn Willow. I can get very nasty when annoyed. Until next time, shhhhhh!

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