Unique Situations

Bubbling of a cauldron could be heard in the cave, the sound echoed on the walls and the smoke of the fire clung to the moisture. A woman dressed head to toe in black stirred the contents with a wooden spoon. She wore a long dress and cloak, pointy buckled shoes, and a large floppy hat with a pointed top. She chanted something as she stirred in the last of the ingredients. As her brew started to cook she turned towards the remaining things on the table and cackled "this will make the fire perfect" She tossed some twigs and pine cones into the fire to make it burn and snap, then some rotten eggshells to make it crackle and finally skunk hair and crow feathers to make it smell nice and let the sparks fly. Swiftly the old woman snatched off her hat and started to fan the flames, her scraggly black hair blending into her clothes. Then she saw it, a rogue flame on the other side of the cauldron flying higher than the rest. She hobbled over to it and found the end of her broom burning. Quickly she pulled it away from the fire and stompped on it, putting out the flames. The only thing she managed to save was the handle, all the rush had burned away.

It was the night before Halloween and she was without her beloved broom, what was an old witch to do. She knew her brew would be fine until she returned but getting to the marshland would be difficult on foot. She started trudging towards it anyway. Her toes hurt from the pinching of her shoes and the stones she had to cross didn't make it any easier. "Oh, I wish I had my broom!" she muttered as she crept by the farmhouse.

Then she saw it, the moon's light hit it perfectly in the darkness. A brand new broom sat on the farmer's porch. The windows were dark, and all was quiet. The old witch decided to borrow the farmer's broom to go gather the brown rushes. She chanted a magic spell to make it fly "broom broom zip and zoom, ride the winds up to the moon." She then hopped on the broom and swish! away she flew. Knowing she could not keep this broom, because the tail was far to short but for now it would do.

When the witch returned with the broom she sat it on the farmer's porch and went on her way, back to finish her brew for Halloween night. The next morning the farmer's wife tried to sweep the porch and swish she went! right into the apple tree. She was dazed and confused at what had just happened. Her husband walked by and asked "whatcha doing in the apple tree?" She replied with "you'll never be able to guess, even if you tried all day" Then after a moment she continued with "I think that broom can fly and now I can't get down" but the old farmer was hard of hearing and he heard her say "I think i'll bake a pie, all crisp and brown" and so he laughed heartily and said "I think that's some of the best news i've heard all day!" and off he trekked to milk the cows. The sun started to set and the old man came back asking "Are you still picking apples?" and she snapped in response with "No, you deaf old man! I'm not picking apples, I told you I flew up here on that dang broom!" The farmer chuckled and went over to the broom. He picked it up off of the ground and then-- ZOOM! He flew as fast as a rocket, and landed on the top of the grain silo. "You are right, this broom really CAN fly!" The farmer climbed down the metal prongs of the silo and fetched the ladder to rescue his wife from the apple tree. "I think theres something funny happening around here, hun" exclaimed the farmer to his wife. "You're right, I think a witch has been around. This here must be a WITCHY broom!" said the wife. "Say, you don't think I could actually fly it and steer it, do ya?" wondered the farmer, grabbing the broom.

Off he went, swirling around the apple tree "Yippee this sure is fun! I could really use this for the farm work!" Then he grabbed the spray for the apple tree and covered it leaf to trunk. He grabbed the yellow paint and repainted his barn. Then he hopped off and set the broom aside. "I think i'll have a go at that too if you don't mind" and the farmer's wife grabbed the broom and took it for a spin. She flew around the house, through her garden to enjoy the view of her flowers and above the brook to watch the ducks. All the animals stared at her in curiousity as she whipped through the sky on her broom.

The moon came early that night and the farmer and his wife were asleep, they had forgotten it was Holloween night. A couple of troublemakers snuck over the fence, ready to play some tricks on them. They had many tricks planned, from rolling the wagon down the hill, to putting one of the goats on the roof of the house. The farmer's wife heard the kids giggling and went to look out of the window. She knew they were up to no good so she decided to pull a trick on them in return. She grabbed a black dress from her wardrobe, her straw hat, and her black boots and hopped on the broom. She flew right out the window and over the kid's heads and let out a loud cackle to spook them.

They screamed and yelled "Jeepers! A witch!" They ran across the meadow only to see another witch an then jumped into a nearby hay bail scared silly. Sure enough, this other witch was the same one who enchanted the broom. She was flying with a jug of brew under her arm, going to go cast some spells on the farm and other towns folk for Halloween. The old witch cackled as she saw the children hiding in the hay. Then she almost crashed into someone in the sky, making her go into a rage. How dare another witch be here, this was her territory. Until she realized it was just the farmer's wife on the witchy broom and chanted "Snip sneep fall in a heap, once you flew but now you sweep" The farmer's wife plopped on top of the haystack near the barn. Her broom no longer flew, it was just a normal broom again. The kids jumped out of the haystack and ran as fast as they could, leaping over the fence in one jump, thinking they were being chased by the old witch. The old witch laughed so hard at that, that she started flying upside down and all of her brew poured out, meaning she had to go home and brew some more. With that, the witchy broom was no more, now it could only ever sweep, sweep, sweep.

The mother closed the book and tucked in the little boy, turning off the light. "that's my favorite bedtime story!" yelled the boy. "I know" said the mother as she walked out, closing the bedroom door.

This was a sort of retelling of the bedtime story The Witchy Broom by Ida DeLage. It was my all time favorite bedtime story, no matter the time of year. The original is availible on https://openlibrary.org for free to read.