and went lower, pulled the handle left and went
left, pulled right and went right. She even tried a
loop-the-loop. It was as if she had been flying for
a hundred years. She was good at it. If she wanted
to slow down, she leaned back. To go faster, she
leaned forward. Soon, she had it all figured out.
She was now a flying witch.
She looked down and saw the frog that her
parents had changed from being a king. It was
sitting alone on the edge of a pond sticking
its tongue out to catch flies. She landed next to it
and spoke.
“Are you tired of being a frog, my dear king?
Would you like to go back to your palace and
your queen?”
Well, the frog almost choked on his flies.
He began hopping up and down and spinning
round and round.
“OK, my frog king. My dad told me the
spell to change you, so you can return to
who you were.”
Now the frog was jumping higher and
higher and spinning round and round faster
and faster. Pond water was splashing
everywhere. Little fish were poking their heads
out of the water to see what was going on. Finally,
he stopped and looked at her with huge glowing
frog eyes. A look that said, yes, please, help me!
“Okay, here goes,” she said.
“Once you were a noble, married to a queen
But witches can sometimes be a little mean.
Your frog days are over, no more a slimy thing.
Tonight, I’m changing you back into a king.”
And poof! There he stood. A handsome young
man. Willomeana was so proud of herself. The
king ran to her and hugged her.
As a witch, Willomeana wasn’t supposed to like
hugs, but she loved being hugged anyhow.
“I guess you need a ride back to your palace,”
she said. “Hop on, Your Majesty.”
And away they went back to his palace. The
Queen cried out when she saw him and ran to
him. She was so full of joy. She had missed him so
much. They hugged a long, long time.
When they stood back, Willomeana was gone.
They looked up to the sky at the full moon and
saw her framed against its bright glow, riding her
birthday broom and shouting out to them.
“Up, up, and away, broom!
Yippeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
The end ●
news&views SPRING 2019 | 37