*Magic isn't real*


Mary- Kate Olsen finished the last problem on her math work- sheet and closed her binder. Now that my homework's done, I'm gonna go shot some hoops. Mary- Kate thought as she ran out of her room, grabbing her basketball on the way and going down the stairs into the kitchen, where her twin sister Ashley was baking cookies.
"Mary- Kate, I want you to try these and tell me if their good enough to be entered in the cookies contest, which is being held in San Francisco." Ashley said handing Mary- Kate a chocolate chip cookie. Mary- Kate grabbed it and bit into it.
"Pretty good, Ashley," Mary- Kate said grabbing a second cookie off the plate and hurrying out the backdoor and into the garage, where the basketball hoop was located.
The twins are very different from each other. Mary- Kate loves sports and horseback riding. Ashley prefers going to the mall, baking some delicious recipe, reading fashion magazines, etc. The twins lived with their aunt in New York because the girls' parents had died when they were three years old. Their aunt was a sweet, patient, understanding person that let the twins be independent and do whatever they liked, if they checked with her first, though.
Mary- Kate played basketball for awhile before going back into the house and finding dinner ready on the table.
"Hey, sweetie, you go change and we'll eat," her Aunt Ronda said coming into the kitchen. Mary- Kate nodded and ran upstairs to change. Soon she ran back downstairs dressed in gray sweats and a black tank top.
"Ashley, your cookies are lovely and I really think you should win that contest," their aunt said as she poured chicken soup into their bowls.
"Well, Mary- Kate tried them and said they were pretty good," Ashley said. Mary- Kate grabbed a biscuit from its basket on the table and started spreading butter onto it.
"They tasted good. What am I supposed to say?" Mary- Kate asked raising her eyes. Ashley frowned at Mary- Kate but didn't say a word. Instead she sharply took the biscuit from her sister's hands and took a bite.
"What you'd that for? Ashley!" screamed Mary- Kate grabbing the biscuit from Ashley and tearing it down the middle. Ashley screamed at Mary- Kate and soon both twins were furious. Their aunt just sat quietly and ate from her plate. She never bothered to interfere when the twins fought.
The fights started when the girls were ten and continued from there. Sometimes the fights were over silly things but the twins screamed at each other and did other crazy things.
Mary- Kate got up from the table and ran up the stairs. Ashley and Ronda could hear her door slam hardly. Ashley put the torn biscuit on her sister's plate and continued eating. Once they finished, Ronda took Mary- Kate's plate and heated it up in the microwave and took it her in her room.
Ashley quietly did the dishes and went into the living room and lay on the couch, reading a magazine. An hour later, Mary- Kate came downstairs and into the living room, where she grabbed a sports magazine from the coffee table and plopped down on the other couch from Ashley and started flipping through the glossy pages.
Whenever the twins fought, they got over it in a couple of minutes or hours and then they just started talking as if nothing had happened.
"Mary- Kate, look at this dress. Isn't it gorgeous?" Ashley asked sliding off the couch and sitting down beside Mary- Kate. They both sat there flipping through the magazine and gazing at the expensive designer evening gowns.
Aunt Ronda came into the living room and smiled at the girls. She never worried about their fights because they were very short. She took the stairs up to her room.
"Ashley, you just have to enter the contest. Besides liking your cookies, I love cities and I desperately want to visit San Francisco." Mary- Kate said closing her eyes.
"You think I don't? I'd love to visit someplace other than New York." Ashley replied turning on the TV. Soon the twins were engrossed into a soap- opera and both sat on the couch, staring intently at the TV.

ยท ~ * ~ * ~

Meanwhile in San Francisco, three young women were in their attic flipping through an ancient book with a title that said: Book of Shadows
"Piper, I put my scarf on my bureau and I couldn't find it. Did you by any chance just happen to take it?" Phoebe Halliwell asked her sister Piper. Piper shook her head and turned to their older sister, Prue.
"Phoebe, I think you understand we're up here because of important issues and not about you're scarf," Prue said in an annoyed voice. Phoebe glared at Prue but kept quiet.
"What exactly are we looking for here, Prue?" Phoebe asked a few minutes later. Prue sighed and turned to Piper and Phoebe, who were both seated on the old ragged couch in the back of the attic.
"We need to find out about Cruel Light, the evil witch," Prue said. "But I've had no luck in finding anything about her."
Piper got up and put her hand on her hips. "We'll need to visit the library and maybe get some sort of lead about her."
The three young women were the Charmed Ones. They were good witches with awesome powers. Phoebe, as the youngest sister of the trio, could see into the future, which is called having a premonition. Piper, the middle sister, has the power of freezing things. Prue, the oldest sister, has the power of telekinesis, which means that she can move objects and people with her mind. The Charmed Ones are often hunted by evil powers determined to obtain the three sister's powers.
"Prue, I'm tired and I've got a mathematics class early tomorrow, so I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." Phoebe said walking out of the attic and into her bedroom when suddenly the floor started to shake and crumble. Phoebe was used to this familiar feeling. It meant that she was seconds away from a premonition. Soon the shaking stopped and a picture formed in Phoebe's mind.
She saw twins, lying on couches and watching TV. They were talking about going to San Francisco for some sort of contest and then the premonition was over. Phoebe stumbled and fell onto her bed. She clearly remembered everything and ran back up the stairs to the attic to tell her sisters.
"You saw twins talking about coming to this city?" Piper asked as soon as Phoebe finished telling her story.
"Yes, Piper, I did. You know that I can hear everything clearly when I'm having a premonition." Phoebe said. Prue sat on the couch staring into space when suddenly she jumped up.
"I've been thinking and maybe the twins have something to do with the evil witch." Prue said. Piper and Phoebe instantly turned to their sister, interested.
"What's all this mean?" Piper asked falling back onto the couch.
"We certainly need to find out something about those twins and the witch," Prue said brushing back her dark brown hair. All the Halliwell sisters have dark brown hair and mysterious brown eyes.
"Well, all I think right now is that we all have to get some sleep and we can talk about this in the morning." Phoebe said opening the attic door and the three sisters filed out.
The next morning over breakfast, the Charmed Ones tried to figure out what was happening. Phoebe sipped her coffee and munched on her second doughnut. Piper sat flipping through a newspaper looking for varieties of contests they were happening in the city. Prue wasn't there because she always left early in the mornings to go to her job at Bucklands. She was an antique dealer.
"Have you found anything, Piper?" Phoebe asked her sister. Piper looked up from the newspaper and shook her head. Suddenly a sparkly white light lit the kitchen and Piper's boyfriend appeared.
"Hey Leo," Piper said getting up and kissing Leo on the cheek. Leo is a white light.
"Hey, Piper, Phoebe, what are you two looking for?" he asked. Phoebe got up and poured a mug of coffee for Leo.
"I had a premonition yesterday and there's some evil witch hunting us down." Phoebe said handing Leo his cup. Leo frowned and took a sip from his mug.
"Sounds interesting. What's Prue think about it?" Leo asked. Phoebe walked into the living room and sat down on the couch, cradling her cup of coffee. Leo and Piper followed her and sat down on another couch across from her.
"Prue thinks that the two things are involved somehow," Piper said leaning back against the couch.
"What would twins have to do with an evil power trying to take our powers?" Phoebe asked. Piper and Leo glanced at each other and sighed.
"Phoebe, we don't anything and we're not going to jump to conclusions, so we're going to keep a open head and try to sort this out." Piper said reasonably.
"I'm not saying you're wrong, Piper, but how about if they're total different things?" Phoebe asked a little annoyed.
"That could be a possibility," Leo said and then he kissed Piper. "I have to go but if you need anything, I'll try to help, ok?"
Piper hugged Leo. "Sure. Thanks, Leo." She said. Phoebe rolled her eyes and went into the kitchen.
"Just because I'm the youngest doesn't mean you need to trash my theories," Phoebe said a few minutes later. Piper didn't look at Phoebe as she made her way up the stairs. Phoebe always got frustrated when her sisters didn't pay attention to what she thought. It was annoying and Phoebe had been dealing with it all her life.
"I'm right and you can't ignore me this time!" Phoebe yelled up the stairs. She heard a door slam and balled her hands into fists. "You have to listen!"
"I'll listen when I get back from P3!" Piper yelled from upstairs. P3 was the restaurant that Piper ran. It was a popular hang- out and Phoebe had met a few cute guys there while visiting Piper. But she wasn't able to go to the club now because she had a mathematics class at the nearby college.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~


"Ashley, are you ready?" Mary- Kate called up the stairs. It was a couple of days since Phoebe's future insight and the twins had a flight to San Francisco today. Ashley was thrilled about her cookie contest and was taking along three of their mother's old cookbooks. Mary- Kate was going with her sister because she wanted to explore the city and maybe even go yachting. Their aunt wasn't coming because she felt the twins could get to the city by themselves just fine.
The twins were to be met at the airport in San Francisco by the contest managers and then the contestants would all go their assigned hotel rooms for the rest of the day. The twins would have to call their aunt from the hotel.
"Coming, Mary Kate!" Ashley yelled as she rushed down the stairs her backpack on her shoulders and a make-up case in the other. The twins hurried out to the garage and hopped into their aunt's awaiting car.
It had begun. The twins were off to San Francisco, home of the Charmed Ones. But they didn't know anything about magic and evil, they were going to California for a contest and exploring.