The Cursed Durazno

“Thanks a lot,” Ophelia said, as she looked at her Familiar. The one thing about being a teenage witch is getting a pet of your choice on your 16th birthday. And her Familiar was named Elena. Elena was a great cat until she got under my feet and made me mix the wrong portions of my potion. “Now I have to start over", said Ophelia.

She moved her dark red hair out of the way while she poured out the potion. Ophelia went into the kitchen to get more sage, chamomille, and blood oranges. “If I want this to work I must be patient, even with Elena", she said aloud to herself. She looked down at her precious cat and smiled. “I better start mixing this potion!”

She started mixing all of the ingredients together. Not realizing it, ten hours had passed and she still hadn't perfected the potion. She was so ready for her potion to be perfect. “I did it, I finally did it!” she shouted, as her potion blew up in her face! "Dang! I really thought I had the right ingredients mixed with the right things, well, back to the drawing board", Ophelia sighed with a look of determination on her face. “I have to be the most powerful witch, I cannot be overlooked any longer!” I know this is my time to shine and beat all of the other witches in the world. She walked quickly to the garden while Elena followed. “Okay I know that I need sage, dragon root, chamomile, and blood orange but something is missing and I have to figure out what I need to be the best witch ever.” She was content thinking to herself when suddenly she heard a loud knock at the door.

“Who is it?” The voice was high pitch and stern, it really annoyed Ophelia. "Why is someone interrupting my day like this?" “It is me, Vivian and I would like to speak with you.” Ophelia cautiously opened the door, not knowing what to expect because Vivian rarely left her side of the kingdom.” “Hello, come right in.” “Let me make you a cup of tea and please have a seat.” She directed her to the dining room. Ophelia quickly made tea and set the table. “So, what brings you to my home?” Vivian, who is better known as the leader of the wolf pack, said “Well…everyone has voted, the werewolves, the witches, and the vampires, and it has been a long time coming. Ophelia, YOU are banned from the kingdom!” “You have always been the one witch that has caused more trouble than any other witch in our whole coven!” “From the moment you got here, you have somehow always brought disgrace to the werewolves, vampires, and witches!” Ophelia, who is now clearly upset by this news, was left standing infuriated and in total shock “Get out!”, she yelled, as she pointed to the door. Vivian begins to leave without another word. Ophelia thought to herself...don’t you ever come back here again. Vivian smirked, satisfied she had now finally kicked Ophelia out of the kingdom. She confidently walked away. “By the way, you have five days to move all of your things out of the house” Vivian screamed to Ophelia with the same weird smirk on her face. “And one more thing, you are banned from all of the kingdoms!”

Ophelia knew that she had only five days to get her potion to perfection. No one was going to stop her from being the best witch ever. But she had to be accepted into another kingdom to show Vivian that she is the best. “The nerve of her, coming to my home! Ophelia said out loud.” “Now I will have to go to the Freeland and become the greatest witch of all time!” Ophelia said to Elena.

Ophelia starts to clear the table and think about what to start packing first.

She was in deep thought and that was when she went out to the garden. Getting this potion right is the only way she will prove them all wrong and become the best. She picked three peaches from the peach tree. “I better start packing now so when the time comes I will be ready!” She realizes that she hasn’t fed Elena so she grabs her food bowl and fills it to the top. “Sorry I forgot to feed you.”, said Ophelia to a sad Elena. Ophelia looked down at her cat and said, “I guess I will start in my bedroom then the spell room then the kitchen, and lastly the living room!”

She walked to her room after feeding Elena. “Okay, I will probably need about five boxes for my bedroom.” Four days later, “I finally finished packing… Thank goodness it’s my last day here.” She wiped a single tear that fell down her face. “You know what, I’m the boss of me and I choose when I leave the kingdom and this house!” She grabbed her bags and put Elena in her carrier. “It’s just me and you Elena, as she turned around one last time and looked at what used to be home. And got in her car. Now the tears really started flowing like a river down her face as she drove away. She drove straight through gates and didn't look back at the damage she had caused.

As she drove ahead into Freeland, she saw a small cottage that made her think of her older sister Sofia. “Why not stop and see who lived there?”, she thought to herself. With all of her bags in hand and Elena’s carrier, she parked in front of the small cottage and got out. The walkway was really pretty with pink and green rocks lining it all the way to the door. This made her think of when she was a little girl. And she just knew this was her childhood home.

“Hello is there anyone there?” A similar voice answered, “Hello, who is it?”. “I just got banned from the kingdom and this is the first house I saw,” said Ophelia. "It looked exactly like my childhood home before I went to live in the kingdom."

“Well come in!”, said Sofia as she opened the door. Ophelia looked in shock as she realized who it was. " Sofia…it’s you as tears ran down her face. Sofia rushed to give me a hug as her Familiar, her pet owl Elijah, started flapping his wings. Ophelia quickly turned her head “Oh Elijah!”, she laughed at knowing that Elijah was still as childish as before she went “missing”.

“Do you want some tea?” asked Sofia, “of course, replied Ophelia.” I sat down at the table while Sofia was rushing to set the table. We were talking and having a nice time while our Familiars played around the table. It’s something how as children we didn’t realize that Familiars were not just pets but special pets just for witches. "Remember that potion you had been working on when we were younger?” Yes, I nodded. "I’m still working on it,” I said nervously. Sofia looked at me with a smirk on her face “Well the tea you just drank was made with the potion and well…I started to choke on the tea. That's when I realized what she had said to me. “What is wrong with you", I asked. The potion held a very dangerous virus with the combination that Sofia had put together. Sofia looked at me with a cold look on her face. "I'm not the same little innocent kid that you once knew Ophelia." I will have the kingdom so that’s why I put it in the kingdom's water supply!!"

I quickly grabbed my bags along with Elena and sprinted out the door! I hopped in the car and got out of there in a quick hurry. I had just enough strength to stop at an abandoned house and that is when I saw one of my small bowls in the back seat. I grabbed it and mixed in the dragon’s root, chamomile, sage, and blood orange. I inject the potion into one of my peaches and took a huge bite of the peach. It stopped the virus from spreading inside of me.

I decided to drive to the kingdom gates and camp out until I could gain my strength. I put on a mask and go inside the kingdom. All I hear are terrible screams and coughing. In the middle of all three kingdoms, I planted an enchanted peach tree which is called the Enchanted Durazno.

Three years later, the tree starts to act as a mushroom that releases spores, and that's what killed the virus. " I finally killed the virus!” Ophelia shouted with joy. I was so excited to be able to have the kingdom well again even though I was kicked out years ago. No one realized that I had made a small tent by the gate for the past three years just to make sure they were going to be safe really soon.

I saw someone walking in through the gate. Whoever this was was calling a meeting with all of the kingdoms. I followed the person trying to see why they were calling a meeting. But then I looked closer and saw that the person was Sofia! I didn't say anything when she said that I created the virus and she had stopped it! I couldn’t even say anything. All I could do was watch as she framed me and stole my credit! I couldn't believe that she lied like that. I walked away in tears. Luckily, no one saw me. I felt horrible. I went to the Freelands and found an abandoned house so that was my new home. No longer was there an “Enchanted Durazno” but a “Cursed Durazno” because Sofia was there. Now I understand why Sofia was banned when we were just little kids, she was a thief and a liar.

But for me, Elena was always there for me. As a matter of fact, we were there for each other even though she was a cat. She is my best friend. “Okay, so should I wear pink or blue?” Ophelia asked Elena. “Meow!” “Your right blue is better.” I put on the blue dress and I started thinking about Sofia. Knowing that for five years she was planning to poison the kingdom then use my cure to steal all of the credit! Now she is in the kingdom because she saved them. But there was no way I could say anything. Because who knows what she would do to me. She has way more magical power than me and if she wanted to fight me or challenge me, I would lose in an instant! So I would just accept that she won this time. And, she got in the kingdom while I stayed out.

She was the last piece of family I had…“W-Why would she do this to me as my eyes filled up tears". “She was my last piece of family since our parents left just the thought that she betrayed me!", cried Ophelia aloud. I broke down in tears on the floor as I realized what she had done. When I found her, I thought that she was still the loving big sister I had known all those years ago. Now I just live with a cat and lots of plants. No one else here to talk with, I’m just all alone.

Someone knocked at the door so I quickly cleaned my face and open the door. ” Vivian is that you?” I asked. Why was the leader of wolves in the Freeland? “I have been banned from the kingdom”, said Vivian. She looked at me as she tried not to cry. “Would you like some tea?” She nodded her head yes. I rushed to set the table and make tea “Well luckily we are both here so we won’t be lonely.” I took a sip of tea waiting for her to respond. "Don’t you have a cat?” Vivian asked. "Cats don’t talk,” I said, “I would have just gone crazy with only talking to a cat.” She looked at me with a concerned look. “So you have been out here all this time with only a cat to talk to?” I started to laugh knowing that she probably thought I was crazy. “Before you ask, I haven’t gone crazy!” “So why did you get banned, Vivian?” Vivian looked at me with a sad look. “Well ever since that new girl, Sofia came, things have been really crazy. She claimed to be all-powerful since she stopped the virus and I said that nature had stopped the virus and all she did was speed up the process. She got angry and banned me” I looked in shock realizing that my own sister was causing trouble everywhere.

So, thanks a lot Sofia!! Vivian, the one who banned me out of the kingdom, ended up living with me and Elena. We ended up bonding as sisters. While Elena found a stray cat to play with. Vivian adopted the stray cat and named him Bob. But still, to this day, no one knew that I had stopped the virus and they were living with an imposter.