No Such Thing as Magic

Spider-Breath the Witch stood atop the grassy hill, looking down at the twinkling lights of the town below. She had been planning this night for a while, and now, finally it was Hallow's Eve. Down by her feet was her small but mighty cauldron and a tattered, well worn book of spells. All she was missing were her friends, the book was very clear there needed to be three of them. Spider-Breath, scratched her nose, her green skin was beginning to irritate her.

“Hello Sa... Spider-Breath” a cheery voice called out to her from behind. A wide grin spread across Spider-Breath's face as she turned around to greet her oldest friend.

Her face dropped. Instead of Lady Crystal Ball, Mistress of Darkness, stood what looked like a princess in a big, pink, puffy dress. Her dark curls were fluffed up on top of her head, almost burying her diamanté tiara.

“What are you suppose to be?” Spider-Breath demanded, stomping her foot. “We're suppose to be witches. You promised.”

“I am. I'm the Good Witch Lily” the Good Witch smiled, waving her silvery wand in the air.

“No, you're not suppose to be a good witch, you're suppose to be the Mistress of Darkness”.

“Well I don't want to be a Mistress of Darkness any more. I want to be a good witch” the Good Witch Lily sulked. “It's not fair!”

“Fine” Spider-Breath sighed and rolled her eyes. Everyone said she was the stubborn, bossy one, but Lily was much worse in Spider-Breath's opinion. Nearly impossible, was a phrase she heard once that she thought best described Lily. “The book doesn't say good witches can't make love-potions too, I suppose. Did you bring the ingredients I asked for?”

“Of course” the Good Witch Lily held up a pink satin bag.

“Good. We just need to wait for Belladonna Trix.”

The two witches, one good, the other out for her own self interest stood talking for a while. They discussed the potion brewing process, their hauls for the night and the weather. The darkness had fully set in around them by the time Belladonna Trix appeared.

“Hi guys” Belladonna Trix cackled flashing them a gappy smile.

She was plainly dressed compared to the other two. She wore a black velvet dress, several sizes too large as if it was made for someone else and her pointy witch's hat was held together by sticky tape.

“Ah Belladonna Trix my good friend you are finally here” Spider-Breath greeted her.

“Hey Belladonna... Trix” the Good Witch Lily added. “What took you so long?”

“Stupid Roxie and her stupid friends” Belladonna rolled her eyes. Her two friends nodded their heads, they understood very well. Although, they would not say that Roxie was stupid, more that she was rather mean as she never let them join her or her friends whenever they saw her.

“Well you made it. Did you remember to bring the ingredients though?” Spider-Breath asked.

“Yep” Belladonna held up a plain black sack.

“Good. I have the cauldron ready. Now Lily you stand there, and Belladonna Trix you stand there. And I'll stand here.” Spider-Breath pointed at where she wanted her friends to stand, so that they formed a crooked triangle around the cauldron. “Now to make a love potion.”

Spider-Breath bent down to pick up the spell book. As if by magic, the book flipped open to the well read page she needed. “First we need toad's blood. I brought that because I thought it might be the hardest to find.” Spider-Breath reached into her satchel and pulled out a clear bottle of red, bubbling liquid. It hissed as she de-cantered it. Her friends gasped. It smelt surprisingly sweet. “It says to put in a shoeful, but I don't want to get my boots wet.” Spider-Breath shrugged and began to poor in the toad's blood, judging by eye how much she needed. She poured over half of the contents of the bottle in, as it threatened to overfill the cauldron. “That looks about right. Next we need two whole snakes. Belladonna did you bring the snakes?”

“Yeah” Belladonna Trix pulled out from her sack a smaller bag crammed full of slimy, slippery, sticky snakes. The first one she pulled one out was purple and red, and it looked shiny as the moonlight glistened off its rubbery skin. It made a plopping sound as Belladonna Trix dropped it into the blood filled cauldron. The second one was blue green and blue and it splashed a little when Belladonna Trix tossed it in, causing the witches to squeal as they recoiled back.

“Be careful” Spider-Breath reprimanded. “Next we need the heart of a unicorn.”

“Ooh that's me” the Good Witch Lily giggled pulling out a handful of small squidgy hearts from her bag and haphazardly tossing them in. Again, splashing the the three witches in toad's blood.

“Lily! It said only one. And I told you to be careful” Spider-Breath snapped. “You've got to take this seriously.”

“Ooops. Sorry” the Good Witch Lily giggled, putting her hand over her mouth. Spider-Breath doubted the sincerity of her apology, but she did not have time to argue with her. Besides, she was too old to bicker with her friends now, she would have be what she had heard people refer to as the bigger person.

“Next we need a lady's fingernail” she looked at her friends expectantly. The Good Witch Lily quickly put her hands behind her back, hiding away her glossy pink nails. Belladonna Trix held up her hands, but her fingernails had been bitten down to nubs.

“Fine I guess I have to do all the work around here” Spider-Breath sighed, pulling off one of her long, red, pointed fingernails and dropping it into the cauldron.

“Eww” Lilly shuddered.

“That's all the ingredients, now we have stir it while we say the magic words.” Spider-Breath pulled out a wooden spoon from her satchel. Toads blood sloshed out as she stirred the rancid concoction around. “Repeat after me.”

Bubble, bubble love on the double

Bubble, bubble love is no trouble

Bubble, bubble this potion

Will set into motion

A love pure and true

A love strong, through

And through

A potion for

Jenna and Dominic Wilkins

Spider-Breath recited the words with great passion and gusto, while her friends copied in dull monotones, like children repeating after a teacher in class.

“Did it work?” asked Belladonna Trix peering into the bubbling cauldron.

“I don't know” Spider-Breath replied. Not that she had wanted to admit it, but she was little disappointed, she had expected something more, perhaps sparks or even explosions. “We need to test it.”

Right on cue, as if summoned by Spider-Breath's own words, a woman's voice called out to them. “Sally-Anne, Sally-Anne. It's time to go.” All three of them turned to look at the apparition that approached them from the darkness. She was dressed in white and had large black circles painted around her eyes. None of the three witches moved as they held their breath in anticipation, as the spectral woman strode across the play park towards them.

“Sally-Anne. Say good-bye to your friends. You'll see them tomorrow.” The apparition held out her hand towards Spider-Breath. Her voice was beginning to sound exasperated.

“Mum! I told you I'm not Sally-Anne, I'm Spider-Breath.”

Jenna Wilkins, dressed as a ghost, stifled a giggle as she looked down at her six year old daughter. Sally-Anne, stood there with her arms folded, her round little cheeks puffed out as she pouted. Her green face-paint was blotchy and uneven, where she had insisted on doing it herself. Jenna, also noticed she had a smear of chocolate in the corner of her lips where she had already been helping herself to her Halloween treats. She better not have spoilt her appetite. Behind her stood Lily Dawkins, dressed as a princess as she had done every single Halloween. And beside Lily stood Bella Dixon dressed in what Jenna suspected to be her older sister, Roxie's, hand-me-down dress and a crudely constructed witch's hat.

“Sorry, Spider-Breath it's time to go. We're going to grandma's for dinner tonight.”

“Alright mum, but first you have to try some of our potion” Sally-Anne held up her little plastic cauldron. Something sloshed inside, spilling over the sides.

“No, Sal... Spider-Breath, I don't think that's a good idea” Jenna could smell the sickly sweet smell of sugar and syrup. One sip, she could tell would have her up all night. She hoped Sally-Anne had not had any of it.

“Please mummy” Sally-Anne pleaded, looking up with large puppy eyes. It had been a while since she had last called Jenna mummy and she realised how much she missed it. Her little girl was growing up.

“It's not going to turn me into a frog is it?” Jenna teased the girls.

“No of course not. It's a lovely potion.”

“Made with love” Lily added. Sally-Anne shot her her look, which she did not seem to notice.

“Very well.” Jenna took the little cauldron from Sally-Anne and peered inside. She could see two gummy worms and a handful of candy hearts floating in what she suspected, by the smell, to be cherryade. Jenna grimaced as she noticed a plastic finger bobbing around. “Mmmm...” Jenna pretended to take a big gulp of the sickly sweet mixture, not daring to let it touch her lips. “Yummy” she rubbed her tummy, although she was being over the top, it was convincing enough for Sally-Anne and her friends.

“How do you feel mummy?”

“I feel good thank you sweetheart. You ready to go?” Jenna took Sally-Anne's small sticky hand in hers.

“Can we go to daddy's?” Jenna tensed up. Sally-Anne had been taking the divorce hard, but she had hoped she would be coming to terms with it by now.

“No sweetie, we're going to Grandma's tonight. You'll see daddy next week. Now pick up your book, it's going to get muddy.” Jenna had just noticed Sally-Anne's library book lying on the ground, the Little Spell Book For Little Witches. The cartoon witch on the cover, along with her black cat, had already been splashed in cherryade.

“Oh” Sally-Anne's little body slumped as she let go of Jenna's hand and obediently picked the book up from off the ground. That was night she realised that there was no such thing as magic.