Abigail had waited until dusk on Sunday. Her husband was on duty, of course, not that she cared. The more time she had apart from him the better as far as she was concerned. It wasn’t exactly hate, but it was a combination of resentment, hurt, neglect, disrespect and loneliness that had built up over a long, long marriage that had been exacerbated by the forced move to Sedgwick. Of course he didn’t think of it like that, but for her, it was forced. She was happy in Kansas City and hated being in Sedgwick. And she was still angry at the way he had just accepted this job and announced the move without allowing her to be a part of the decision. So here they were, the “happy” church-going couple, him the police chief and her the teacher. But she was no longer this woman. She hated their church and had started to skip church; she hated this community and did her best to avoid any social interactions.<br/><br/>As a classics scholar Dr. Abigail had always had an interest in ancient pagan religions. One cannot study the history of the ancient world without coming to grips with the religious dimension since everything is so woven together. The result had been a growing interest and attraction to these pagan practices. For her paganism made much more sense than Christianity. Christianity, indeed all of the “religions of the book” were focused on transcendence. A single, monotheistic God up there somewhere, not engaged with the world with the human goal to find a way to meet this God in “his” transcendence. This left the world behind and opened the door to all kinds of abuse of creation and the stratification of life. Animist paganism on the other hand was rooted in the creation. Everything in the creation contained the divine; everything was divine – all life. She of course recognized that ancient empires as early as the Greeks and Romans had realized that transcendent religion could be utilized as a tool of power and domination. But even through the periods of empire the people held on to their animist paganism and it gave their lives hope and meaning.<br/><br/>After the move to Sedgwick Abi began to explore paganism and its modern incarnation in a new way and she had decided this spoke to her. She created a little altar in her office with statues of several of her most beloved Goddesses, connected with other pagans online and began to enact subtle rituals. Sunday at dusk was her ritual time. Her husband was gone, so wearing only a simple robe she slipped out of the house carrying a basket with a few things into the woods where she came to a remote clearing she had made. She built a little fire, removed her robe so that she was naked, smoked a joint of pot and began to dance and sing songs she had composed (based on the Orphic Hymns). Today she wanted to try a spell she had transcribed from the Greek Magical Papyri. It was a simple spell, one asking for peace and insight. What should she do about her unhappy marriage? Her goddess was not a vending machine, but she knew that the goddess would come to her and calm her so she could make some decisions. Perhaps some of these decisions would become self-evident. After some libations a few more puffs of the joint, she put out the fire, donned her robe, picked up her things (making sure to remove all evidence of the marijuana) and walked back to the house.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">+++​</div><br/>One of Professor Abigail’s responsibilities was to teach a college prep honors history class. She had not been all that enthusiastic to begin with, but as it had progressed she found that she really enjoyed it, and she enjoyed the students. They were a really interesting mix of students of different backgrounds, culture and sexuality. How odd for a school in Sedgwick to have such diversity. As she had progressed through the fall classes one student had made quite an impression upon her. Robin was unlike any student she had even met. The gender fluid young woman was smart and charismatic and Abi found herself oddly and inappropriately drawn to them. Soon Robin was staying after class for long talks. Abi took them to the Student Union and they sat and talked for hours. It was not really unexpected when on Thursday after class during one such visit Robin had leaned in and kissed her. Surprised at first Abi quickly succumbed and was soon kissing Robin passionately as she felt them begin to caress her breasts while she ran her hands over their body caressing their breasts and gently rubbing over the bulge between their legs. Abi’s body wanted to be taken right then and there by them, and perhaps Abi would not have been able to resist had Robin pushed it, but they had pulled away and then quickly left to “catch the bus,” leaving Abi is a state of intense arousal. She rushed back to her office, immediately removed her panties, pulled up her skirt and furiously masturbated to orgasm.<br/><br/>Friday morning Robin came by again and they agreed that since Abi had no classes on Friday afternoon they would spend time together. Abi took them to a little hotel on the outskirts of Wichita and there in that room Abi was loved for the first time in years. She had not experienced orgasms like that since before she was married during her wild youth. Had he asked Abi might have agreed to run off with Robin, but slowly both of their minds took over after the intensity of the sexual encounter had faded and Abi had driven them back to Sedgwick and dropped them off downtown on a side street, worried that her husband might be patrolling and not wanting to encounter him with Robin in the car.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center">+++​</div><br/>As Abi drove home she mused about the fact that her husband had discovered her ritual place in the woods. This was a set back and she would not be able to use it for a while. After arriving at home she decided to take a shower to wash off any evidence of her tryst before her husband returned home. For the first time in her marriage she had been unfaithful, She didn’t care. It had been incredible. But what now? Would they have a full-fledged relationship? Affair? Maybe Robin just wanted sex. Abi actually didn’t mind that. That might be easier. After taking a fair amount of time in the shower and bringing herself to another yet orgasm she got out of the shower and noticed her phone was beeping.<br/><br/>She answered. It was Robin! Arrested! Pot! Xavier was angry. “This kid’s one call is to you. What is that about?” He demanded.<br/><br/>She sighed in frustration. “He is a student and he has no family. Just give him a warning for Pete’s sake. If this were a pretty girl you know that is what you would do.” This comment seemed to enrage her husband. Abi rolled her eyes.<br/><br/>“You can meet us at the station.” He yelled into the phone as he hung up.<br/><br/>Abi was nervous. She wasn’t ready to have her husband discover their sexual affair yet. Otherwise his rage didn’t phase her. She was used to it. He was a bully and he was always raging about something. Anytime something happened he couldn’t control he would start raging. “What a jerk.” She said as she got in her car.<br/><br/>During the drive she found herself trembling, but she pulled herself together and went into the station. She didn’t wait for him to say anything but marched right into his office, “Xavier, he is a student. You found him with pot. Big deal. In the rest of the country pot is legal. You are the one turning this into something major.”<br/><br/>Her bluntness and aggressiveness both surprised and enraged Xavier even more. They argued intensely during which she stated that she would pay the bail and the fine if necessary, until finally she said (in a moment of indiscretion) “So if you want to go arresting people. Arrest me. I smoke pot when I want. Have for years. You are, as usual, creating a problem where one doesn’t exist.”