Someone had to switch on the light. I found the sudden brightness oddly offensive. And, what's worse, the slender thread holding us snapped and I shivered in my robe, empty and cold. It bothered me I could get so wrapped up in the illusion of candlelight. When it broke and reality came back it was always disappointing to find myself in an ordinary basement.

Not that the magic was a sham, quite the opposite. In fact, it was way too real for me, always had been. Ever since I ...