Willow the Magical Witch

Copyright 2016 Mette Sandgaard Pallesen

  Willow the magical Witch packed all of her things on a Monday afternoon, and on a Tuesday morning she moved to hazelnut grove in the big old red Manor. Luckily she remembered everything, not only the hat, but also the magic wand, the fine red shoes she got from her aunt Anna and....oh yes her lazy cat, Harold of course.

  When Willow arrived she went into the house. Everything was covered with dust. "Attu" she sneezed. It’s been years since anyone sat foot in the big old Manor because people in Hazelnut grove were afraid, very afraid. The old rumor has it that a mean and powerful wizard lived in old attic. But Willow did not think much of it and she decided to look around. Perhaps she could find a duster somewhere.

  In a distant end of the house she discovered a long, narrow staircase leading up to the old attic. Willow was both curious and scared at the same time. What if the old rumor was true? What if there actually lived a mean and powerful wizard in the old attic? She went up the stairs and quietly opened the creaking door. “Come on Harold” she whispered. She didn’t dare to go in alone.

  The attic was filled with old stuff: lamps, books, a box of old toys, an old sofa, and lots of spiders everywhere. And Right in the middle of the room was a small table with a large mysterious black book on top. "The Great book of witchcraft”. Willow gently looked at the book, when she suddenly heard a strange sound. Creak, creak, creak. It came from behind the bookcase. She didn’t dare to go look and told Harold to go instead. But Harald, who wasn´t the bravest cat, pressed up against her and wouldn’t move.

  The sound was gone and everything was quiet. But it wasn’t long before Willow heard the sound again. This time it came from behind the old sofa, and when she looked up, she saw a dark shadow flying by. "What was that? Harold go look" she whispered in a quivering voice. But Harold couldn’t. He was completely frozen with fear and remained still for several minutes.

  Suddenly Willow heard a chilling voice behind her saying “What are you doing with my book?” Willow turned around. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t know it belonged to someone”, she said, and looked startled at the strange mouse standing in front of her. Harold was also frightened. Actually he was so frightened that he jumped up in the air and landed right on Willows.

  Who are you? Willow shuddered. “ME! Do you not know who I am?!!! I’m the great and powerful wizard Sigfred Oganamus. Buuuuut you can call me Sigfred, my little friend”. Willow almost forgot that she was afraid and started laughing “you...a powerful wizard... but youre just an overgrown mouse”. “I might not be the highest and mightiest of them all” Sigfred said “but I can do great things, very great things with my magic, and you better not forget that”.

  Willow would love to see what Sigfred could do with his magic and she got an idea. Perhaps Sigfred could use his magic to help her get rid of all the dust in the old Manor. Sigfred hesitated but when Willow offered to throw him a garden party with muffins and juice the next day, he agreed. Sigfred started to make some magic dust. It sizzled and bubbled and a stinky cloud filled the attic. And then, in minutes, it was done.

  Sigfred sprinkled a bit of magic dust on Willows magic wand and put the rest in a small bag. "Go down to the living room, swing the magic wand and think of the prettiest home you can imagine. Then say the magic word “tryllerolleri it is pure magic”. But you must remember to be careful. Magic can easily go wrong”. Willow promised to be careful but on her way down she grabbed the bag of magic dust, just in case she would need a little more later on.

  Willow went down to the living room and did exactly what Sigfred had told her, while thinking of the prettiest home she could imagine she said the magic words “tryllerolleri it is pure magic” and swung her magic wand. A big cloud of dust began to rises in front of her, and it got bigger and bigger until, all of a sudden, it disappeared and the whole house was completely spotless. Willow was very happy. Harald on the other hand, didn’t like it one bit. The magic dust had landed on him as well and had made him the prettiest little cat in all of Hazelnut grove -YIKES

  Early the next morning Willow picked some elderberry from the old tree in the garden. She wanted to make some hot elderberry juice to go with the delicious muffins that she promised Sigfred, the day before. But when she was about to make the juice and the muffins, she discovered that she was out of sugar, so she took her basket under her arm and decided to make a quick stop at Baker Olson’s Bakery.

  On the way to the Bakery Willow met a boy named Gustav. Gustav couldn’t find his cat and was very sad. He told Willow that his little kitten had been out to play in his garden, the day before but had not returned home when it got dark. Gustav feared that he would never see his little kitten again and began to cry. Willow felt very sorry for him and wanted to help.

  They went down to a small lake nearby when suddenly Willow got an idea. For her plan to work she would need a tiny bit of the magic dust that Sigfred had made for her. She carefully sprinkled a little dust on her magic wand and swung it. She carefully put the tip of the Wand in the water, while saying the magic words. Willow and Gustav waited for a while but nothing happened. "Maybe it’ll work if we say it together" Willow suggested. And all of a sudden a picture of a little unhappy kitten sitting on top of a tall tree started to appear in the water.

  Gustav immediately recognized the tree. It was the big old apple tree in Hazelnut park. They quickly found the tree and when they looked up they saw a little kitten sitting way up in the top of the tree, looking very tired and very worried. “Do not Worry, little kitten” Gustav said “we will get you down”. And while Gustav ran home to retrieve some robe from his father's garage, Willow tried to comfort the little unhappy kitten as much as possible

  When Gustav came back with the rope, they threw it over a branch and tied it to Willows basked. The little kitten looked scared. Could he make the jump? Gustav covered his eyes “jump, jump” he whispered and waited and waited. And then suddenly the little kitten jumped, and he landed right in Willows basked. Gustav was very happy and relieved when they got his kitten down, and Willow invited them both to the garden party later that afternoon

  When Willow came to the Bakery, the nice Baker Olson did not look happy. He just sat on his chair with his head buried in his hands. "What's the matter?" Willow asked. "My oven is broken and now all of my beautiful bread is burned.” the sad baker said. Willow wanted to help him and she immediately thought of the magic dust. It worked like a charm when Gustav needed her help. Maybe it could do the same for Baker Olson? She looked at the oven and took a little extra magic dust on the wand just to make sure it would work. Then she swung the magic wand in front of the oven. BONG, GONG, CHUI, BANG.

  And then Something very weird happened. The oven started to grow and it grew and grew and grew until it almost reached the ceiling. Willow had to think fast. If the oven got any bigger it would make cracks in the ceiling. She quickly put some new magic dust on her wand and said the magic words as loud as she possible could. And after a little while the oven started to shrink and it got smaller and smaller and smaller until it returned to normal size at last. Now it was as good as new. Baker Olson looked amazed. "How did you do that?" he asked. But Willow just smiled "it almost went terribly wrong" she thought, and breathed a sigh of relief.

  Baker Olson needed some new bread in a hurry. Willow volunteered to help and within minutes’ dough was made and bread was ready for the oven, and when they were all done baker Olson wanted to know if there were anything that he could do for Willow in return. "You can sell me a pound of sugar” Willow said “and enjoy the afternoon in my garden later today. Baker Olson hesitated. He had heard the rumors about the Mean and powerful wizard living in the old manor and to be honest he was a bit afraid
. But he politely said “yes thanks”.

  On the way home Willow discovered some blackberries and decided to pick some to put in her muffins. Willow started picking some when she suddenly heard a sound coming from inside the bushes. She moved the branches aside and looked. There, way in the back of the bushes sat a little girl. Her name was Ingrid and she was hiding. Ingrid told Willow that a girl from her school teased her with her new glasses. "She is so mean to me and calls me four eyes all the time. And now she is waiting for me further down to road, so I cannot go home”. “Don’t be afraid. We will go together” Willow said

  It wasn’t long before they came across the mean girl from school. “Four eyes, four eyes” the mean girl shouted and pushed Ingrid to the ground. Willow felt it was very unfair, and wanted to help Ingrid, and suddenly she had an idea. She just needed a tiny bit of magic dust to teach the mean girl a lesson. Willow took the magic dust out of his pocket, sprinkled it on the magic wand and pointed it at the mean girl without her knowing it. "Tryllerolleri it is pure magic" Willow whispered

  And then something happened. The mean girl's hair started to tangle up in big knots. And the knots got bigger and bigger until her hole hair was one giant knot. Oh NOOOOOOO" the mean girl cried “I’m never going to get these knots out” and then she ran home as fast as she could. Willow could not help to smile a little, and Ingrid was happy too. Perhaps the mean girl would think twice before she ever teased Ingrid again. Before Willow and Ingrid said goodbye Willow invited her to the garden party later in the afternoon.

  All the guests had arrived, and Harold and Sigfred was invited as well. Everyone had fun. Harold was quit preoccupied with the little kitten, who played game of tag with Harold's tail. Sigfred had a long talk with the nice baker Olson about rare spices from distant countries. And the nice baker found that Sigfred wasn’t a mean and nasty wizard after all. And Gustav and Ingrid shared stories from school while enjoying Willows homemade muffins Willow was very happy. She had a great day and got many new friends who could visit her as often as they liked

  About the Author

  Mette Sandsgaard Pallesen has a degree in anthropology from the University of Aarhus and has among other things written and illustrated children's books in the series "Willow the magical Witch" and “Gotcha Day” Currently she works at illustratoriet where she illustrates children's books for independent authors who wishes to publish their children's book as an E-Book. For more information, go to: www.illustratoriet.dk

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