Category: Creatures of Fantasy

The Three Little Witches

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Once upon a time there were three witches who were going out into the world to seek their fortune.  “Watch out for the terrible humans,” their mother said.  “Especially the children.  Remember what I’ve taught you and you will be safe and happy witches.”

“We will, mother,” they said.

“Well, go on then,” their mother said.  “If you stay any longer I’ll cry, and then I’d start to melt.  We don’t want that.”

So the witches left.  On the first day, they passed a dark, scary forest.  “Perfect,” the youngest witch said.  “I’ll build a house here out of candy and gingerbread.  That will keep the children away.”

“While I agree that sounds rather awful, I thought that children liked sweet things,” the oldest witch said.

“But mother said that they’re taught to never take candy from strangers.  It’s a fool proof plan,” the youngest witch said.

“Wow, that’s pretty smart,” the middle witch said.

“I know.  Good luck with your houses.  Send me a message by candle to tell me where you end up,” the youngest witch said.  They said their goodbyes and the older two departed.

The next day, they passed an empty plain, filled with tall grasses that rippled as the wind blew through.  “This is perfect,” the middle sister said.  “I’ll build a tall tower so that I can see the humans coming and a high wall to keep them out.  Then I’ll plant all my favorite vegetables in the garden.  Children are frightened of vegetables.  Mother said so.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” the oldest sister said.  “Let’s light a candle and tell our sister.”  They let the youngest sister know where the middle sister settled, and then they said their goodbyes.

The oldest sister traveled for another day into the mountains.  She built a tall castle out of the mountain stone and surrounded it with giant briar bushes.  She lit a candle and told her sisters about her new home.

Life for the oldest sister was mostly peaceful.   A little rabbit moved into the briar bushes and used them often as an escape from a persistent fox and bear.  But no children came.  Her sisters weren’t as lucky.

One day, the youngest sister showed up at the middle sister’s tower.  She flew right into the tower window on her broom.  “They’re going to kill me,” she said.

“Who?” asked the middle sister, looking around.

“The awful children,” the youngest witch said.  “They started eating my house.  When I asked them to stop, they said they were thirsty and asked for a drink of water.  I went into the kitchen, and I heard them whispering about shoving me into the oven and then claiming it was in self-defense.”

“Who would believe that?” the middle sister asked.

“They said that everyone knows that witches eat children.”

The middle sister made a face.  “Ew, gross.”

“Exactly.  They obviously didn’t believe it though.  They just wanted to steal my house.  Well, they can have it.  Smelling all that sugar all the time was making me sick,” the youngest sister said.

“Well, I’m happy to have you stay here with me.  In fact, your timing is excellent.  The vegetables will be ready to harvest soon,” the middle sister said.

So the youngest sister moved in with the middle sister, and they had a great time caring for the vegetables.  A week or so later, they looked out the tower window, and saw some adult humans stealing vegetables from the garden.

“How rude,” the middle sister said.  “I’m going to go tell them to stop.  They should grow their own vegetables.”

She grabbed her broom and flew down.  She came back a few minutes later, looking upset.  “What happened?” the youngest sister asked.

“We have to leave,” the middle sister said.  “Right now.”

“Why?” the youngest sister asked.

“They want to give me their baby to make up for stealing my vegetables,” the middle sister said.

“Are they crazy?” the youngest sister asked.

“They must be,” the middle sister said.  “They were saying all this nonsense about how I could grow the baby’s hair long so that I can climb her hair to get into my tower.  What do they think my broom is for?  Sweeping?”

“Let’s go.   Our oldest sister has plenty of room in her castle,” the youngest sister said.  “Should we take the vegetables with us?”

“Leave them.  I don’t want to risk running into those crazy humans again.  We can grow more,” the middle sister said.  They left to visit their oldest sister that evening.

The oldest sister welcomed them in and was horrified by their stories.  She was glad they’d escaped and were safe.  The younger sisters picked out their rooms and unpacked and were soon happily eating cabbage soup with their oldest sister.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.  The younger sisters looked confused.  “I thought the only way to your castle was by broom,” the middle sister said.  “Isn’t that what the briars are for?”

“It’s probably the rabbit,” the oldest sister said.  “He’s always coming by, trying to interest me in his terrible schemes.”

She opened the door.  There stood the rabbit.  “How do you do?” he asked.

“Fine, now go away,” the oldest sister said.  She started to close the door.

“Wait,” the rabbit said.  “I bring you important news from a kingdom not far from here.”  The oldest sister stopped trying to close the door.  The rabbit grinned.  “The king and queen have a new baby daughter, and it came to my attention that you weren’t invited to the baby blessing.  Now I have a great idea for how you could get back at them…”

The oldest sister closed the door in his face and never answered again when he knocked.  The three little witches lived happily ever after.

Three Little Witches

 

Troll on the Barrier

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Sophie and her mom walked to the park. The sun was shining, and mom had a lunch packed in her bag. It was going to be a marvelous day. “What’s for lunch?” Sophie asked.

“You just had breakfast,” Mom said. “I’m sure you aren’t hungry already.”

“I just want to know what it is,” Sophie said.

“Sandwiches,” Mom said.

“What kind of sandwiches?” Sophie asked.

“Egg salad,” Mom said.

“I like egg salad!” Sophie said. “What else is in there?”

“Wait and see,” Mom said.

Sophie frowned, making sure to look extra sad.   Mom laughed. Sophie tried to keep looking sad, but it was too hard.   She laughed too. She skipped down the sidewalk. They were almost to the park now. They just had to cross the parking lot.

The parking lot was full of short concrete barriers at the ends of the parking spaces. It made the parking lot look like a graveyard today, when there were no cars parked there.

“Where are all the cars?” Sophie asked.

“The parking lot is closed,” Mom said. She pointed and Sophie turned to look.   There were orange plastic cones blocking the entrance to the parking lot. “I’m not sure why, though.”

“Maybe there’s a troll here,” Sophie said.

“In the parking lot?” Mom asked. “Why would a troll be in the parking lot?”

“They’re looking for people to eat,” Sophie said.   “Don’t be scared though, I’ll keep you safe.”

“You know how to fight trolls?” Mom asked. She sounded a little impressed.

Sophie smiled. “Of course I do. I’ll show you how.” She hopped up on one of the barriers. “I’m a troll now,” she said. “If I get to the end of this barrier, I’m going to eat the villagers.”

“What villagers?” Mom asked. “I thought the trolls were going to eat us.”

“It’s just an example,” Sophie said. “Now hold your hand up.”

Mom held out her hand like she wanted to shake hands with someone invisible. “Like this?” she asked.

“No, no, no,” Sophie said. “Hold it up like you want to say stop. That way the invisible spider webs can shoot out of the center of your hand.”

Mom adjusted her hand. “Okay. Is this right?”

“Yes,” Sophie said. “Now, do that if I get close to the end of the barrier.” Sophie slowly shuffled along the top of the concrete barrier. At last, Mom held up her hand and Sophie stopped.   Sophie pretended to stumble off the barrier. “You got me. Let’s practice some more.”

Sophie walked back to the other end of the barrier.   “I can balance really well,” she said.   “Did you see that?”

“Yes, you did a great job,” Mom said.

“Okay, now I’m a troll again,” Sophie said. They practiced stopping trolls several more times.   Then Sophie stopped and started waving her arms. “Do you see this? If I do this, I can stop your webs. So you have to wait until I’m not doing this. ‘Cause if I’m doing this and you shoot webs at me, then they hit you instead.”

She crossed the barrier, waving her arms, then held her arms still as she approached the end. Mom held up a hand. “I got you,” she said.

Sophie smiled. “You did. And if you hold up your other hand while I’m singing then you get hearts to heal you.”

“It’s more complicated than I thought,” Mom said.

Sophie hopped off the concrete barrier. “Yup,” she said. She looked around. “But I don’t see any trolls right now. Maybe they’ll be here on our way home. Let’s go to the park.”

“That sounds like a great idea,” Mom said.

“We could eat some of our lunch first,” Sophie said.

“We just had breakfast,” Mom said. “Let’s play first.”

“Okay,” Sophie said. “Let’s play pirates. I’ll tell you how to play.”

“Okay,” Mom said.

Monster Cooking

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It was monster Papa’s turn to make dinner. He loved to make dinner. It required thought and creativity, and it was very relaxing. If only all chores were this great.

“What’s for dinner, Dad?” little monster asked.

“Candle wax and string,” monster Papa said.

Little monster cheered. He sat down on the stool at the counter. “Can I watch?” he asked.

Monster Papa smiled. “Of course you can.” He pulled out a large tin can and started throwing in the ingredients. String, candle wax, toenails…”

“Why toenails?” little monster asked.

“So that you’re always on your toes. What’s that over there?” monster Papa asked. Little monster turned to look and monster Papa poured a bag of candy in to the can.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t quick enough. “What was that?” little monster asked.

“What was what?” monster Papa asked.

“What did you add to dinner?” little monster asked.

Monster Papa started squeezing lemons into the mix.   “Lemons, so that you’re not afraid to move forward when things go sour.”

“No, before that,” little monster said. “What was it? What was in the bag?” Little monster kneeled up on his chair and tried to lean over the counter and look into the tin can.

“It’s a surprise,” monster Papa said.

“It’s not something gross is it?” little monster asked.

“Of course not,” monster Papa said. “Well maybe a little.”

“Tell me, tell me, tell me, please?” little monster asked. “Please, please, please.”

“Stop using your best manners, or I’ll tell your mother,” monster Papa said.

“What did you put into dinner?” little monster asked.

“Fine,” monster Papa said. “I’ll tell you. It was hot peppers, so that you’ll have biting wit.”

“You just put that in,” little monster said.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. Listen closely, because I’ll only say this once. It was…” monster Papa mumbled the last word.

“It doesn’t count if I can’t hear it,” little monster said.

“Oh look, the peppers are working already, and you haven’t eaten them yet. That’s amazing,” monster Papa said. “Time to put this in the oven.”

“If you tell me I’ll shred the newspapers into tiny pieces and scatter them all over the living room,” little monster said.

“That would be nice,” monster Papa said. “We could turn on the fan and pretend it’s a blizzard.”

“So will you tell me?”

Monster Papa sighed. “Fine. I added candy.”

Little monster scowled. “Ewwww. Why?”

“So that you grow up sweet,” monster Papa said.

“I don’t want to be sweet,” little monster said.   “Who wants to be sweet?”

“It will help you appreciate the scary moments,” monster Papa said. “It’s important to have balance. Besides, it’s sweet to say I love you, and I say that all the time. It’s okay to be sweet sometimes.”

“Fine,” little monster said. “But I’m not eating it. Not if there’s candy inside.”

“Tell you what. Eat three pieces of candy, and you can pick the rest out,” monster Papa said.

“You can have them, Papa,” little monster said.

Monster Papa made a face. “I guess it’s good for me, right? Well, go tell Mama that our casserole surprise will be ready soon.”

“Okay. I love you, Papa,” little monster said.

“I love you too, my little monster.”

A Terrible Headache

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It hadn’t taken long to change out of the little cloth gown and leave it in a pile on the crinkled paper covering the exam table. Now, Marcie waited in the exam room, staring at the posters on the wall.   The picture of the inside of the eye was a little creepy. She turned and read through the poster on the importance of sunscreen.

Marcie pulled out her purse and started flipping through her receipts.   It’s too bad that phones couldn’t be used inside the building. If she could turn on her phone, then she could look at Facebook or check her email. She shoved the receipts back inside her purse and shoved her thumbs into the center of her forehead.

She’d had this headache for weeks now, and it was only getting worse.   Aspirin wasn’t taking the pain away anymore. She couldn’t focus for very long, couldn’t really think. However, she was afraid to go to the doctor and hear the results. Her Google searches seemed to prove that these weren’t migraines. Something was very wrong.

The doctor had confirmed her worries when he sent her right away for further testing. It had all happened so fast. That was the part that made her worried the most. Surely, she wouldn’t need to be tested so quickly if it wasn’t something terrible.

She looked up when someone knocked on the door. “Come in,” she said.

The doctor opened the door, carrying a folder. He smiled and sat down. “I’ve had a chance to look at your results. I have good news and bad news. Which would you like first?”

Marcie took a deep breath. Should she ask for the bad news and get it over with? No, then she’d not be able to appreciate the good news. “Good news first,” she said.

“It’s not a brain tumor or an aneurysm. In fact, it’s not really anything abnormal at all,” the doctor said.

“But I already had my eyes checked. It wasn’t that,” Marcie said. What else could it be?

“No, I imagine you have great eyesight, right?” the doctor asked.

“I’ve never had any problems with my eyes,” Marcie said. “My eyesight is better than normal.”

“Do people tell you that you have a soothing voice?” the doctor asked.

“I was the narrator in all our school plays,” Marcie said.

“And is the pink stripe in your hair natural?” the doctor asked.

“How did you know?” Marcie asked. “What does it mean? Doctor, what is the bad news?”

“Well, I don’t know if I’d really call it bad news. It depends on how you look at it,” the doctor said. He tapped the folder on his knee.

Marcie frowned. “Just tell me,” she said.

“Well, it turns out that you are transforming into a unicorn,” the doctor said.

“What?”

The doctor opened the folder and pulled out some black and white images.   He clipped them to the wall and pointed with his pencil. “If you look here, at the middle of your forehead, you can see the horn bud developing.   I’d say that you have another three weeks until it surfaces. At that point, the transformation will be much more rapid. Do you have any trouble digesting meat?”

“I’m a vegetarian,” Marcie said. “I have no idea. Doctor, unicorns aren’t real. Even if they were, people wouldn’t change into them.”

“Of course they would. It happens all the time.   It’s just that when it happens, their records are erased and everyone forgets about them,” the doctor said. He tapped his pencil on the lumpy bright spot on the image.

“Then how do you know about them? It just doesn’t make any sense,” Marcie said.

“Doctors are allowed to know, in order to help their patients. We swear an oath only to reveal the information to unicorns. I am never able to remember specific patients afterwards though,” he said.

“What will happen with my apartment? My job? My family?”   Marcie asked.

“I don’t know. The unicorns take care of all that. At least, that’s what I think happens,” he said.

“So what do I do?” Marcie asked.

“I really don’t know,” the doctor said. “But here, take this with you.” He handed her the file folder. “We most likely won’t remember you tomorrow, so it won’t do us any good.”

“But my headaches,” Marcie said.

“I can’t write prescriptions for a patient that won’t be in my system tomorrow,” the doctor said. “Ask the unicorns.” He stood up.

“You’re leaving?”

The doctor held out a hand and Marcie took it. He shook her hand gently. “It was nice to meet you. Good luck,” he said. And then he left.

Marcie picked up her purse and her folder. That wasn’t how she’d expected this to go at all. She juggled everything into one hand so that she could push a thumb into to the center of her forehead. Her head hurt.

Charlie’s Room: The River Rock

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Isaac was walking to his car after work when his phone started ringing.   “Hello?” he said.

“Hi Dad,” Charlie said. “Mom and I are buying everybody sandals to wear. I already picked some out.”

“That sounds like fun, do you want me to meet you there?” Isaac asked.

“That’s okay, we’re almost done. If you tell me your shoe size I’ll get you ones that match mine. Mine are red,” Charlie said.

“That would be wonderful, Charlie. Mom knows my size. Will she have red sandals, too?”

“Maybe. She can’t decide, and we’ve been here forever. She said I could use her phone to call you, but I can’t talk long. I hope we’re almost done.”

“I’m sure it won’t be too much longer,” Isaac said. He had reached his car and was now fumbling around in his pocket for the keys. Ah, there they were. He unlocked the door.

“Dad, I left you a present on my desk,” Charlie said.

“What’s the occasion?” Isaac asked. “It’s not my birthday.” He sat in the front seat and leaned back. It had been a long day.

“It’s because I love you of course,” Charlie said.

Isaac smiled. “I love you too Charlie.”

“Well, I’ve got to go. Mom wants the phone back. Bye!”   Charlie hung up.

Isaac drove home feeling much happier than he had just a few minutes before.   He arrived home to an empty house.   Charlie and Marianne were probably still out shopping. Isaac put away his work things and checked the dinner menu.

He left some potatoes in a pot of water on the stove. It would take a while for them to come to a boil. While he was waiting, he could see what Charlie left for him. He went to check Charlie’s desk.

The scrabble game was open on one side of the desk. Beside it there were some of the letter tiles, spelling out ‘HI DAD’. Next to the tiles was a smooth, flat, gray rock. Isaac chuckled and sorted through the pouch.

He changed the message to ‘THANK YOU CHARLIE’. Then he picked up the rock. It fit nicely into his palm. It was one of the river rocks Charlie had collected on their last camping trip.

He remembered finding this one. It was just below the surface of the river near their campsite. When he’d brought it back to camp, Marianne said it might make a nice skipping rock.   She was the skipping rock champion.   Charlie hadn’t liked the idea.   “I’m not going to throw it away,” he said.   “I’m going to keep it.   It’s a nice rock.”

“You are a nice rock,” Isaac said. “You can hold down the papers on my desk for me. But which desk? At home or at work?”

The rock started to move. Two tiny eyes appeared and looked at Isaac. They blinked. The rock moved again, and then it shifted. There was a tiny gray man standing on the palm of his hand.

Color started fading in, and the man looked less and less gray, as though he were standing in his own personal sunrise. “Hello,” Isaac said.

“Hello,” the little man said. “I’m sorry to say that I cannot accompany you to your desk. My time is up.”

“Were you under a curse?” Isaac asked.

“No, I’m a member of the royal fairy family. Fairies turn their leaders into river rocks to teach them wisdom and patience. Luckily I’m not in the direct line for the throne, so I only had to be a rock for a century or two,” the little man said.

“Why are you telling me this?” Isaac asked.

“I can tell that you have magic of a sort so it’s allowed. I waited for a chance to tell you thank you.” The little man bowed. “Thank you. It was nice not to wake up at the bottom of a river.”

“It’s really Charlie who saved you,” Isaac said.

“Can you thank him for me? Now that I’ve changed, my assistant will be here any minute to escort me home.”

“Of course,” Isaac said. “Is there anything you need?”

“No, thank you,” the little man said. They stood in silence for a few minutes. Then, there was a popping sound. A little person with large purple butterfly wings was fluttering in the air in front of them, carrying a large pair of blue wings. He fluttered over and attached them somehow to the back of the little person on Isaac’s hand.

“Goodbye and thank you,” the little man said. There was a double pop and both of the little people were gone.   Isaac smiled and went to check on the potatoes.

Over dinner, Charlie asked, “Did you like the present?”

“Yes, thank you for sharing it with me. He was glad not to be back in the river, and he said thank you.” Isaac said.

“The rock did?” Charlie asked. “Huh.   Do you want to try on your sandals after dinner? They have blue stars on them. Just like mine. Let’s wear them tomorrow.”

“I don’t think I can wear them to work, but I’ll put them on after work.   If they fit.”

“They will,” Charlie said. And they did.

 

The Neris

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The mythological creatures had a conference. Beings of legend gathered from near and far. There were many of the better-known creatures, like vampires and mermaids and unicorns. The less common beings hung around the edges of the room and tried not to look as awkward as they felt.

The neris saw a small crowd gathering in a dark corner. Curious, she wandered over. She hummed and people cleared a path without realizing it.   Sometimes her talents were quite useful.

In the center of the crowd, a human child was crouched down. The creatures around him were growling and yelling.   “Human, you don’t belong here,” a vampire said. “I should drain you for your insolence.”

“After I bite you,” said a werewolf.

“And I poke you in the eye,” a flying monkey said.

“I’m not a human,” the little boy said.

“You look like a human,” a dwarf said. “I don’t believe you.” He kicked the human in the shin. The flying monkey started pulling his hair.

The neris had seen enough. “Twinkle, twinkle, little bat…” she sang. Everyone in the area clapped their hands over their ears. The flying monkey darted away and the others followed, leaving the little boy sitting on the floor, hands over his ears.

The neris stopped singing. The little boy was humming and rocking back and forth with his hands over his ears.   The neris tapped him on the shoulder.   He turned and took his hands off his ears. “I stopped singing,” she said.

“That was you? It sounded terrible,” he said. He winced.   “Oh, wait, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

The neris laughed. “Of course it sounded terrible. I’m a neris. But my singing made everyone leave you alone didn’t it?”

“Thank you for that,” the boy said. Then he frowned. “What’s a neris?”

“It’s kind of like a siren,” she said.

“But sirens sing so well that they can lure people closer,” the boy said.

“Well, I’m the opposite of that,” the neris said.

“I get it, you’re like me,” the boy said.

“What do you mean?”

The boy scowled. “I look like this, because it’s the night of a full moon,” the boy said.

“I think they picked that so the werewolves could come in creature form,” the neris said.

“Exactly. But I’m a weren’twolf.   I’m a wolf every night except the night of the full moon. It feels a little unfair. Everyone keeps calling me a human, when I’m more wolf than they are.”

“That is unfair,” the neris said. She held out a hand to help him up. “I guess us outsiders could stick together.”

“That would be nice,” the weren’twolf said. “That way you can keep the human-haters away from me.”

“Then be prepared to have to endure some terrible singing,” the neris said.

The boy frowned. “Oh, my poor sensitive ears. Do you have any earplugs?”

The neris laughed. “Of course not. My singing sounds perfectly fine to me. Maybe you’ll get used to it.”

“I’ll do my best,” the weren’twolf said. “It would be nice to have a friend. Have you decided which workshops you want to attend?”

“I spend a lot of time repelling humans who drift to close to magical sites, so I was interested in the one on modern human culture,” the neris said.

“Well, I do have to try to blend in one day a month. That sounds great. What about the meditation class?” the weren’twolf asked.

“Let me read the description,” the neris said. The two new friends wandered off, laughing and talking. It was the beginning of a legendary friendship.