Tracy sat gazing out the window. The sky was dark, the clouds having let loose a torrent some time ago. It was still raining, the large drops splattering against the window with great force, driven by a howling wind. Lightning flashed constantly, and the rumble of thunder never quite died away.

Sighing, Tracy leaned back. She was supposed to have gone to the beach with some friends today. Why did Mother Nature pick this weekend to unleash her fury? It didn't seem fair.

There wasn't even anyone to talk to. Her housemate was gone for the weekend, having wisely selected a destination some distance away, and was probably enjoying sunny weather. And with the phones and power out because of the storm, Tracy felt very alone and very lonely.

She did not know any of the neighbors that well, and it was raining too hard to make a dash to any nearby houses anyway. She debated running out to her car and just driving somewhere, anywhere, but decided against it. The storm was just too powerful, the rain too intense. Besides, there were undoubtedly trees and power lines down across some roads.

With nothing at all to do, Tracy got up and wandered aimlessly through the darkened house. It was early afternoon, but seemed like late twilight. It was too dark even to read, Tracy had discovered to her dismay. She had found a flashlight and several candles, but had chosen to save them for later on, when it was truly dark.

With a start, she realized she had wandered into Lydia's room. She looked around, feeling rather guilty. She should not be in here, they had always respected each other's privacy. But there was nothing else to do, and with a nervous giggle, Tracy walked slowly around the room with no real purpose. She paused in front of the book rack, straining to see the titles.

Romance. Philosophy. Ian Fleming? And then, there on the second shelf, she noticed several books on self-hypnosis.

Lydia was into stuff like that?

Her face flushing, Tracy took one book off the shelf. She opened it up, but it was far to dim to read the smaller print inside. Sighing, she put the book back and continued her wandering.

But she found herself intrigued by those hypnosis books. She now understood why Lydia always seemed so calm and confident. Could hypnosis do that, she wondered? Could I hypnotize myself?

Her thoughts flashed back to a TV show she had once seen, where a woman had been hypnotized by staring at a candle. Feeling somewhat foolish, and yet with a strange sense of excitement, Tracy hurried back into her own bedroom and picked up the candles she had been saving for later.

Could I do this myself, she wondered?

Trembling a bit, she put one of the tall candles into a holder and set it on the table beside her bed. Then she hesitated, and carried the candle into the kitchen, setting it in the center of the table. She sat down in a kitchen chair and paused for a moment.

How does a person hypnotize oneself, she wondered. Laughing, now feeling quite foolish, she realized that the first step would obviously be to actually light the candle. She took a match from a drawer, lit the candle, and sat back down, thinking.

In the movie there had been someone talking to the woman who had been hypnotized, telling her what to think, what to do. There was no one to talk to Tracy. But then, that's what self-hypnosis was, right? Hypnotizing yourself. Lydia apparently could do it without anyone helping her. How would she do it? What would she say to herself?

As Tracy puzzled over these things, she noticed that her eyes had already settled on the candle. She giggled again, wondering if it might be easier than she thought. She tried to calm herself, to consciously focus on the candle. To watch the flame flicker, to notice the colors dancing in the flame. To notice the color of the candle itself. To notice the tiny bead of wax that was slowly trickling down the side...

She felt a tingle as she noticed that her breathing had seemed to slow all by itself. Keeping her eyes fixed on the flame, she tried to tell her body to relax. She thought back to the TV show, the image of the woman gazing at the candle, her facial muscles slack and loose as she sank into a deep trance. Tracy wondered what it felt like to be hypnotized as she stared into the candle's flame.

Now she noticed something else that she had not really expected. As her eyes remained on the candle, as she tried to relax herself, she realized with some surprise that she was actually feeling a bit aroused. The idea of letting go, of allowing yourself to relax completely, was quite exciting.

Of course, that made it harder to focus on the candle. She tried gently squeezing her thighs together to soothe the unexpected sensations. How could someone be hypnotized if they're turned on, she wondered?

She sat still for a while, gazing at the flame as she felt herself becoming increasingly aroused. The image of the hypnotized woman on TV, her hand dangling lazily in mid-air as the hypnotist controlled her, came to her. She wondered if, since you could control a person's hand, you could control other parts of a person's body as well.

That thought only made her more aroused. Now she gazed at the flame, imagining herself surrendering to a handsome hypnotist, acting instantly upon his every command.

Had Tracy realized it, she was actually in a trance. Focused on the candle, her mind turned inward, there was no longer any thought of anything else. The thunder, the flashing lightning, the incessant beating of the rain upon the windows, none of these things drew the slightest reaction now.

The candlelight filled her vision, thoughts of being hypnotized filled her mind. She was not aware that she was not squeezing her thighs together with a steady rhythm, or that her nipples were now quite erect. Her breathing was rapid and shallow, her palms sweating lightly. Tracy was, indeed, in a light trance, and was entirely unaware of it.

What would someone make me do under hypnosis? Would I look like the woman on TV? How does Lydia hypnotize herself? What does she do when she's hypnotized? Does she feel as - as - as turned on as I feel right now?

Tracy's hand, which had been resting in her lap, twitched once. She did not notice, her thoughts whirling around the idea of going into hypnosis.

She wondered what Lydia looked like when she was hypnotized. Again, she pictured the woman on TV, her body loose and relaxed, her face peaceful and serene. Is that what I look like now, she wondered? Is that what Lydia looks like when she hypnotizes herself, all relaxed and lazy?

Her hand was slowly inching to the side, all by itself. She still did not notice the movement. Lydia, the candle, the woman on TV, the strange, wonderful feeling of calmness that seemed to be slowly surrounding her. These were the thoughts that filled Tracy's mind as her hand moved between her legs.

She felt something now, a slight pressure against her. In a detached way, she wondered what it was, finally coming to the conclusion that it was her hand against her pubic area. She was now becoming aware of the pleasant sensations that had been slowly building within her. Hypnosis is wild, she thought, somewhat giddily. I feel like I'm playing with myself.

She was. Her hand was pressing harder, now moving in a circle. Her eyes remained fixed upon the candle, and she felt no desire to look away. This was too good. This was so much fun.

Tracy did not know that she was now slumped backwards in her chair, her legs splayed to the sides, her mouth hanging open. Lost in her self-made world, she knew only that she was trying to hypnotize herself and that she felt very, very relaxed and very, very aroused.

She pressed hard through her slacks against her clit. A soft sigh escaped her parted lips, and her thoughts fixated upon the sensations which were rushing unhindered through her nervous system.

Her sigh turned to a moan as she pressed harder. Her body shuddered, but her eyes did not waver.

As if in a dream, which she more or less was, she undid the snap on her slacks, then slowly tugged the zipper down. She was not consciously doing these things, they seemed to be happening on their own, the response to some unknown command sent from some unknown part of her mind.

Her hand slid inside her panties, feeling the damp softness there. She moaned again, louder this time. She felt utterly paralyzed, and yet her fingers gently parted the fleshy folds and rubbed gently against her hard bud. She stared at the candle with wide eyes, helplessly lost in her own private world of pleasure.

Sensations she had never imagined coursed through her body. Utterly captivated by the candle's flickering light, her hand moved by itself, sending wave after wave of incredible pleasure cascading over her. Time itself seemed to stand still as her body shuddered helplessly again and again, the passion within her building higher and higher even as her mind sank deeper and deeper into her self-induced trance. There, sitting at the table, staring enraptured at the candle, Tracy's awareness was focused totally on the intense feelings.

Some time later, she cried out as she climaxed. Her eyes squeezed shut, her body shook violently, and she tensed in her chair, her back arching against it, her head thrown back.

Gasping, she opened her eyes, finding her fingers buried deep inside herself. Dazed, not quite knowing what had happened, she went right on pleasing herself, climaxing several more times before becoming still, panting heavily, her body limp and spent.

Shaking her head to clear her muddled thoughts, she again noticed the candle burning brightly in the center of the table. She froze, realizing what she had just done. Then she smiled broadly, took a deep breath, and slowly stood, stretching luxuriously before refastening her slacks.

"Wow", she muttered to herself as she washed her hands.

With one last, almost loving, look at the candle, she blew it out, only to discover that it was still quite dark in the room. The power had not yet come back on. She found a flashlight, took the candle back up to her room, and sat down by the window. There, she watched the rain pouring down again, but she now wore a smile of satisfaction and anticipation.

An hour later the power came back on. She ate, washed up, and went to bed, still smiling.

Lydia came home late the next evening. She was quite surprised to find Tracy sitting alone in the kitchen, an unlit candle in the middle of the table. Tracy looked at her, a strange gleam in her eyes.

Tracy spoke before Lydia could.

"I want you to teach me about hypnosis."

After a short, stunned silence, Lydia smiled slightly. As she thought more about Tracy's request, her smile grew and grew.