Florence's children

Florence's Children By Molly Neary-Pegler

A lonely old lady with no children of her own, but loved by everyone, decided to set up a child-minding business. Children would come to her after school if their parents were out to work. Before long, what started out as a simple kind gesture soon turned into a more sinister tale.

Sitting in her rocking chair late one evening, Florence was once again left feeling all alone. The children had all gone home. Like mice chasing cheese, they would run around her feet, screaming, shouting and singing all day long. It made her feel useful to have them there. She was their carer, friend and someone they could trust. All of a sudden, she felt so deserted by all her children that she desperately wanted to find a way to keep them forever in her care.

Constantly through the day and night, her brain blossomed with ideas. She started to keep a notebook with diagrams and detailed explanations about how she may be able to ensure the children would grow in her care. Many things were crossed out, edits were made and on a stormy night as the wind whispered to her, she decided to put her plans into action.

Early next morning, she hopped on her mobility scooter and powered into town, her mission firmly at the front her mind. She needed a procedure in place to stop anyone finding out. She needed this to appear normal. She needed some kind of magic.

Anxiously, Florence stopped her scooter underneath a tree and rummaged back through her note book. She remembered reading something about modern day witchcraft. Positively trembling with excitement, she knew they existed. But how would she find them?

Arriving in town, she tried her best to stick to her original plan. However, a seed of doubt had been planted in her mind. All of sudden, something caught her eye. It was a brand-new garden centre. Like any old lady, Florence loved a good garden centre. Without a second thought, she used the full power of her scooter and raced towards the entrance. Like a child herself she was ecstatic and eager to get inside this new world of magical mystery. What would she find?

Without turning back, Florence entered the garden centre. In the distance, she noticed something odd. A spark of light? A burning flower? Curiously, she was positive she heard voices coming from inside the flower. Unsure of how anything she was experiencing was possible, she whizzed forward on her scooter, pricking her ears up like a hare she suddenly heard a BOOM, then a BANG and finally a CRASH! Her scooter screeched to a halt and she had to squint her eyes as before her the flower illuminated like sparkling shooting stars in the night.

To her surprise, when she opened her eyes again, Florence was lying down in freshly cut grass, the smell of it tickling her nose. What would normally be a lovely experience swiftly changed as a chill ran down her spine. She looked around in bewilderment, a feeling of something tightening around her head. The more scared she became, the more it squeezed.

Just as she felt like her head would explode, she closed her eyes and prayed for a miracle. In front of her she saw a figure approaching.

"Hello, you must be new here," whispered a calm and cooling voice, "I'm Matt."

"New here? Where is here? What am I doing here? Who are you?" exclaimed Florence, lifting herself up off the grass, her senses heightened.

"Why, this is Magical Magnolia of course." He replied, with a worryingly happy expression on his face.

At this point, Florence's head was swimming with questions and ideas but then she remembered that she had been hoping for some kind of magic, could this be it? She must find out more.

"Magic Magnolia? What is it that you do here?" questioned a now excited Florence.

Looking at her expectantly, "Why, Magic Magnolia is a place for only the greenest fingered folk and you are only brought here if you are in need of magical assistance." Chimed Matt.