Space Witches 1: The Book of Witches

12. The Entrance Examination

The university I was applying to was one of the more ancient ones. It had mellow brick walls, vines climbing up towards the sunlight, arched windows and arcades that protected the walker from the bright rays of the sun. The buildings weren't high, and when I walked in through the gateway I found myself in a square garden surrounded on all sides by buildings. From where I stood I could see two more gateway arches through the buildings, both leading to more gardens.

It looked so pretty that for a fleeting moment I wondered what it would be like to study in such a picturesque place. You could almost imagine being back on Earth in the good old days.

It took me a while to spot the worn sign leaning against an old oak. That's because my eyes were attuned to seeing modern screens, and this was an object made of real wood, in the shape of an arrow, pointing to my left. "Entrance Examinations" it said. I turned that way to get my queue number. After that I would go in search of the library.

I came to a small hall where an elderly lady was sitting behind a desk. She was almost hidden behind a huge book she was holding in front of her face. Or rather – she was not holding the book but had pulled a long map out of it, which she was holding at an arm's length. She was mumbling to herself, and my ears caught a few "ahas" and "quite, quites".

I stopped and coughed. The map jumped and a pair of scared eyes looked at me over it for a second before they melted into a kind smile.

"So sorry dear, I was lost in ancient Thebes here... And you will be a prospective student, looking for...?"

"Yes, I was wondering where I could find the entrance examination queue."

"Really?" she jumped to her feet with surprising agility. "Please, do follow me. No queues here!"

Before I could think of a plan B, she had already grabbed my arm and almost pulled me to the double doors at the end of the hall. She yanked them open and led me in.

There were about twenty people sitting in the lecture theater, scattered around.

"Do take a seat," the lady whispered, "and I'll bring you your examination papers. I'll write the time on your papers and from that moment on you have three hours to answer the questions. Take the papers to the front when you are finished, and the supervisor will check you are within the three hour limit. After that you might perhaps like to check our museum and library?"

"Yes, that would be interesting!" I whispered back.

She nodded and smiled at me. Then she hurried to the front, took a pile of real papers that were in front of a middle-aged man who had his nose buried to a real bound book. He barely took notice of the lady. She hurried back up the steps and placed the papers in front of me.

"Now I need you to show me your ID card," she pulled a little clipboard out of nowhere. With real paper on it again. I fished my ID card from my bag – it was a tiny little screen, not made of paper or any ancient material. "Thank you, dear," the lady said and wrote down my social security number, "Put all the papers in the envelope when you are ready and then return them to the front. Good luck, my dear!"

She wrote the time on the envelope, patted my hand and left.

And so all my plans had gone west. Instead of going directly to the Library of Ancient Tomes, I found myself sitting there at the entrance examination of the University of Ancient Cultures, with an actual pile of papers and old-fashioned pencils to use. And what was that? A pencil sharpener? I turned the little gadget in my hands. I had only ever seen these in art class. And as I didn't have an artistic bone in my body, I had only taken the compulsory art course, after which I had never seen a sharpener again.