The Little Witch's Birthday

The Little Witch's Birthday
Michael Bellerby

Oh Mum. Why can't I go outside to play with the other children?"
pleaded a rather fed up Sally Applebarrel.
"You know why, dear. Dr Twigg is coming to see you any minute now isn't
he? Now run along and get washed up, like a good little girl".
Sally huffed and puffed, but it didn't do any good, so she finally
wandered off to get cleaned up before their visitor arrived.
There was a knock at the door. It was Dr. Twigg. Sally liked the Doctor
very much for he had the largest bushiest beard she had ever seen and
it made her giggle whenever she saw it.
Sally's mum greeted the doctor warmly as she swung open the front
door.
"Good morning Doctor Twigg, how are you this fine day?"
Little Sally hadn't been feeling well for months and months, and
although Doctor Twigg had been visiting Sally almost daily, always
bringing with him the latest medicines, he hadn't yet been able to find
a cure for Sally's mystery illness.
"Good morning back to you, Mrs Applebarrel", said Dr. Twigg. "I'm in
tip top health thanks for asking".
Sally peeked around her mother's apron and giggled. "Ah, good morning
little Sally Applebarrel". The doctor beamed a big smile in her
direction. "Are you feeling well today, young lady?"
"I'm just a little bit tired Doctor. But I would like to go outside and
play with my friends. Please tell my Mummy it would be alright,"
pleaded Sally.
"Very well Sally, tell your mother I said you may, but on one
condition. Stay away from Black Heart forest".
Black Heart forest was dark and spooky and strange things had been
known to happen there. Sally wasn't well and Dr. Twigg didn't want her
exposed to anything that might place her in danger. His warning
expressed his concern for his favourite little patient. "Alright, I
promise, Dr. Twigg", agreed Sally.
"Mummy, I'm going out to play, smiled Sally. Doctor Twigg says I can.
I'll be back home in time for supper" and with that, a happy Sally
dashed out the door, off to meet her friends, Mary and Saul, the local
Blacksmith's children.
Mary and her little brother Saul were regular visitors to Black Heart
forest. The pair loved playing tag in the shadows of the tall dark
trees.
"Come on Sally, let's play hide and seek!" yelled Mary, and the three
of them scampered off.
Suddenly Sally stopped. "Wait!" she cried. "I can't go into that spooky
old forest. I've promised my Mum and Doctor Twigg."
At that Saul began to dance around Sally, taunting her with
"Scaredy-cat, Scaredy-cat".
"Who's a scaredy, scaredy cat then?" asked Mary with a sniff. "There's
nothing to be afraid of, Sally. We've never seen anything spooky, have
we Saul?" Saul started to shake his head then paused. "Well.... there
is that strange old woman who lives in that rickerty old cottage down
by the stream. But it's not really all that spooky....". Still, when
Sally wasn't watching Saul shuddered ever so slightly. The truth was it
was sort of spooky but he didn't want to let it show.
The old woman always dressed in black and was thought to live all
alone. For years most of the villagers had privately referred to her as
a witch, but not one of them was interested in venturing into the
forest to find out if she really was or not.
"What could possibly be so spooky about an old lady and her cottage?"
asked Sally curiously.
"Well", said Saul pausing briefly, "It's got a large black cauldron
outside which bubbles away night and day".
"It smells horrible too," added Mary.
"I could tell you whether a cottage and a cauldron is spooky or not",
said Sally. "But I'd have to see it first, wouldn't I? Come on
then...".
Sally's mind was now racing with excitement as they wandered deeper and
deeper into the woods. She wanted to see the cauldron and the cottage,
and the old woman who lived there.
"I've just remembered something", Sally told Mary. "I must be home in
time for supper, I've promised my Mum." It's funny how she remembered
that part of her promise. She had certainly forgotten all about Dr.
Twigg's warning.
The three children ran through the forest. After a while Mary stopped.
"I'm thirsty", she said. "Lets go down to the stream near the cottage
so I can get a drink of water".
This was Sally's chance to see the old woman's cottage for herself. And
sure enough, just across the stream, the old thatched cottage came into
view. It had small round windows, an iron studded front door, and a
large cauldron was busily bubbling away in the front garden.
As her friends were drinking Sally carefully made her way over an old
rickety bridge and edged towards the small untidy garden near the front
door. Suddenly the cottage door burst open and out ran a little girl,
followed closely by a small black kitten.
The little girl caught sight of Sally and stopped in her tracks.
"Hello!" she said curiously. "Who are you?" Sally was surprised at how
nice she seemed.
"Hello", Sally replied. "My name is Sally Applebarrel. I'm from the
village. That's a nice kitten you have there? May I stroke him please?"
asked Sally.
"No", snapped the little girl with a frown. "He'll scratch you. He
doesn't like strangers"
But then the little girl stopped frowning. "How old are you Sally
Appletree?", she asked curiously.
Sally began to giggle. "You've got my name wrong, its not Appletree,
it's Applebarrel. And I'm eleven years old. How old are you?"
"I'm eleven too" said the little girl. "But only for two more days
after today, and then it'll be my birthday. I'm having a birthday
party", she sniffed, "but you can't come, because only other witches
are invited".
Sally stood there quite silently for a moment wondering whether she had
heard the little girl correctly, then looked around nervously to see
where her friends were.
"Uhh.... did you say witches?" she asked.
"Of course I did. I'm not a boring little girl like you. I'm a little
witch, so I can work magic spells. And I'm not supposed to play with
children like you. So go away. Get out of my Grandmothers garden before
I put a spell on you!"
The little girl began to say some magic words and Sally became rather
frightened. She turned around and began to run. Sally wasn't about to
stay behind to find out what those strange words the little witch had
begun chanting actually meant.
Sally dashed across the bridge and rejoined her friends. She whispered
shakily that the little witch had said she was going to put a spell on
them if they didn't leave right away, so the three of them turned and
began to run as fast as they could. The little witch had definitely
frightened them.
When they reached the edge of the forest they stopped to catch their
breath. " What a nasty rude girl she turned out to be, grumbled Mary in
a trembling voice.
"Well, I hope she has a horrible birthday party," sobbed a thoroughly
frightened Sally, who by now was gasping for air.
The three children were still trembling when a large figure suddenly
came into view, causing them to huddle together even closer.
"Now what's all this, then? What have we here?" asked a booming voice
which came from behind a big bushy beard. It was Doctor Twigg, and what
a welcome sight he was to the children.
Dr. Twigg took in the scene in an instant. Sally was pale as a ghost
and she was having trouble catching her breath.
"You two kids go straight home to your mother", he told Mary and Saul,
"I'm sure she'll have your supper ready by now. I'll take Sally back
with me".
On the way home Doctor Twigg tried to quiz Sally. "You haven't been
anywhere near that old cottage in the forest, have you dear? And did
you drink any of the water from that filthy stream? His voice was now
full of concern. For Sally really was his favourite little
patient.
Sally nodded weakly. "Oh Doctor Twigg.... I feel so funny. My head is
spinning and my legs are shaky....And I don't know what's wrong with
......" but before Sally could finish her sentence she collapsed.
The Doctor quickly scooped her up in his arms and ran all the way to
her house. Sally's mother put her to bed and there she lay, as still as
a statue. She wasn't dead, but she didn't look really alive
either.
"Let her rest," said the doctor to Sally's mother. He looked very
worried. He reached into his medical bag and withdrew a small bottle.
"Give her this medicine if she wakes", he said. "I'll come back
tomorrow to see how she is". As the doctor left the house, Sally's mum
was crying silently.
But Sally didn't wake up later that day, or the day after that.
Very soon word started to spread around the tiny village about just how
poorly little Sally was doing.
"She's such a sweet little girl, her poor mother must be heart broken,"
sighed Julia Gunn, the parson's wife. Her neighbour nodded. "The whole
village hopes and prays that Sally gets better quickly", she
agreed.
The news of Sally's strange illness had even reached deep into the
forest. A woodcutter, on his way to market had paused to tell an old
woman and her granddaughter who lived in a cottage deep in Black Heart
forest about the little girl who had collapsed at the edge of the
forest.
Although the granddaughter was interested in the news the old woman
wasn't. She was too busy trying to explain to her granddaughter how
important it was to become an evil witch, so she roughly sent the
woodcutter on his way and turned to the child again.
"Listen to me child", she said sharply. "There are four rules to
witchdom.
Rule one. Get yourself a black cat.
Rule two. Always keep two broomsticks in case one breaks down.
Rule three. You should look the part. Try to grow some warts and boils
on your nose.
Most important however, is rule four.
Rule four says. Never do a good spell for anybody, especially on your
birthday, for to do so would mean that you and all the other witches of
the forest would disappear forever.
Disappear forever? The very idea sent an ice-cold shiver right down the
little witch's back.
"Now be off with you... I've got some magic potions to brew", growled
the old witch as she shooed the little girl outside, shutting the heavy
door behind her.
The little girl soon became very bored. "It's just no fun playing on my
own," she sighed, "I wish I had some friends to play with." As she
gently stroked her cat, the little witch remembered Sally and her
friends.
"I was very rude to that poor little girl, wasn't I Merlin? Now I've
heard that she's very poorly. I wonder if there is anything we can do
to help her?" the little witch began to think.
"I know!" she told her cat. "I could go visit Sally. Maybe I could put
a spell on her to make her well again!" but even as she thought, the
warning drifted into her head. She didn't particularly want to be
responsible for making all the witches of the forest disappear, now did
she?
But after another two hours of boredom she decided to seek out Sally
Applebarrel.
Even though by now it was getting late in the day, the little girl
jumped onto her broomstick and flew through the forest towards the
village. Once there she would see if there was anything that could be
done.
When she got to the village the little witch noticed that everyone was
very quiet. Sally was not doing well. She wasn't doing well at all, and
everybody felt terrible about it.
"I must do something to help." said the little witch to herself, and
headed towards Sally's house. The window to Sally's bedroom was wide
open. The little witch quietly climbed through the window and stood
next to Sally's bed.
"Sally, please wake up", she whispered. "You can come to my party, and
you can even bring as many friends as you want." But Sally just lay
there, and her face against the pillow was very pale and very
still.
The little witch looked out the bedroom window and in the distance she
saw a handful of children still running around and playing games in the
moonlight, even though it was now long past eleven in the evening.
Nobody in the village could sleep while Sally was so ill, neither the
adults, nor the children.
Children playing together had always looked so happy and carefree to
the little witch. She couldn't remember ever having fun like that, even
with her magic spells.
In fact, the more she thought about the idea of growing up to become an
evil witch; the less she liked the idea.
"I don't think I'd like to be a witch anymore. It's dull and boring to
have to be nasty to everybody all the time. I'd rather play and have
fun like all these children do", she thought to herself.
The little witch thought some more. "The thing is.", she told herself,
"If I make Sally well, that would mean all the witches in the forest
would disappear, including me. But if I don't try to make her better,
I'll never have any friends at all. I'll just become old and lonely,
and I'll end up turning the people I don't like into frogs. That's not
much of a choice!

The little witch's mind was in a terrible muddle. Just then she heard
Sally's mother sobbing quietly in the other room. "My little girl is
dying! she wept. "What can be done to save her?".
The little witch knew Sally's mother was about to come into the
bedroom, so she hurriedly tiptoed over to Sally's wardrobe in the
corner of the room, stepped inside, and softly pulled the cabinet door
almost closed behind her.
Sally's mother came into the room and sat on the edge of her daughter's
bed.
It was now or never for the little witch. Should she sacrifice herself
to make Sally well, or leave her to her fate and become a fully-fledged
evil witch? The little witch peered out through the crack in the door
so she could see the clock on the mantle-piece. It was five past
midnight, officially her birthday. She made her decision. She decided
to say her magic spell.
Sally smile and breathe once more I'll chase the fever from your door.
Both eyes open, laugh, be well A gift of life with my last spell.
Sally's eyes fluttered and then began to open. A tearful Mrs.
Applebarrel gasped and put her hands up to her mouth.
"Hello mummy", whispered Sally. "What are you crying for? She smiled up
sweetly at her mother. "I've just had the most lovely dream. It was
about a little witch who turned into a good fairy so that she could
make sick children well again with her magic spells".
Mrs. Applebarrel was both stunned and thrilled. She quickly sent a
neighbour to fetch Dr. Twigg. When he arrived, he examined Sally and
told her mother that through some miracle Sally seemed to be as fit as
anyone he had ever seen. The villager's prayers had surely been
answered. By morning, the news had spread through the village and
beyond. Everyone was happy.
A few days later, the woodcutter mentioned to some friends in the
village that the inhabitants of the cottage in the forest must have
moved away suddenly, because the place looked to him as if everybody
had simply up and disappeared.
Not long afterwards, on very starry night, Sally was lying in her bed,
when suddenly a beautiful pink light began to fill her room.
Then from deep within the light a lovely child's voice spoke. "Hello
Sally, remember me? I'm the little witch you met in the forest. I
wanted to help you and all the sick children of the world so I was
turned into that good fairy that you dreamed about. I'm so glad that
you're well again, but now I have a favour to ask of you in return.
Please could you find my kitten and take care of him for me. You could
even rename him whatever name you want, I think he'd like that don't
you?" But before Sally could answer the soft light began to fade
away.
"Please, Sally?" drifted one last time from the beautiful light as it
slowly dimmed and died until it had completely disappeared.
Sally began to cry. "I promise that I'll take care of him forever, I
really do promise. And thank you so much for taking care of me, you'll
always be my greatest friend."
And sure enough Sally went into the forest the next day and rescued the
little cat. She renamed him Lucky. The lucky kitten would spend the
rest of his life with Sally, a constant reminder that the two of them
owed their lives to a little girl who chose to put others before
herself. And always would.
THE END