The Witch Piffi by @Moonshade-fantasy Illustrations: Ingebjørg Støyva
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THE MAGIC SOUP
Deep in the Black Forest, in a secret valley behind the Misty Mountains, was a magical land called Elidår.
There lived all the magical and most wondrous creatures such as unicorns, elves, dwarves, gnomes, witches, and wizards.
Elidår was ruled by the most powerful wizard of them all, King Wildor. He was half-elf and half-human, and there was no one else in Elidår who could match him in wizardry.
Around the royal castle lay the village of Prydain. And there, in a small magical house that looked just like a mushroom, lived a small wizard family.
It was Mr. and Mrs. Rosenkrans and their two children, Thomas and Piffi. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenkrans worked as fruit sellers.
Every day precisely at twelve o'clock, they went into the dark forest to pick wild apples and forest blackberries to sell at the market.
Sometimes the children went with them, and sometimes they didn't.
Then there was a day when Thomas and Piffi were home alone. The parents had long since gone into the forest on their usual fruit trip.
Piffi was bored, and that's when she came up with the clever idea. She would surprise her parents with a dinner.
She fetched the biggest witch's cauldron in the kitchen, put wood in the oven, and placed the cauldron on top. Then she fetched water, and while the water boiled, Piffi went to the kitchen cupboard.
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There were live snakes, toads, and bats. Piffi found a large glass of frog eggs and a box of dried cockroaches. She threw everything into the cauldron and stirred.
Then Piffi fetched her magic wand, and stirred it around in the pot:
«VELOX PULMENTI!»
«Are you sure that will work?» asked Thomas. «What if it suddenly explodes?»
«Oh,» said Piffi. «Of course it will work. Now I just need to add some salt and pepper, and the soup will be ready.»
«No way I'm eating that!» said Thomas. «What if I suddenly turn into a frog?»
«Oh, Thomas,» Piffi replied exasperatedly. «How many times do I have to say it? This isn't a potion! It's just ordinary soup.»
Thomas glared at Piffi as he wrinkled his nose.
«Oh yeah? Are you sure about that?»
«I promise,» replied Piffi. «Here, taste a bit.»
Piffi held up the ladle. Thomas backed away and almost crashed into the table behind him.
