Whizardy Witch and The Poorly Broomstick Whizardy Witch is always whizzing around. She is the fastest witch in the Land of Magic. “Zoomedy zoom, let’s go broom,” she squeals, making her broomstick go faster. Whiz, and off she whizzes. One day, Whizardy Witch was getting ready to go out to play when she heard a painful coughing coming from the broom cupboard. Mum looked up from her breakfast and said, “That doesn’t sound good. Maybe one of the brooms has Sweepers Cough?” Whiz opened the cupboard to see her own broom looking a pale-yel- low colour with bright red spots. The broom coughed rapidly, groan- ing loudly in pain. “You are not well today,” said Mum sympathetically. “You other brooms will have to be kept separated from Whiz’s broom in case you become ill too.” She used a special medicinal spell to surround broom in a bubble of pink magic and sent the sickly pa- tient off to the witch’s hospital. “Don’t worry Whiz, Dr Fixer will soon have your broom back to you. She will be good as new before you know it.” Whiz could never remember being away from her broom and she sud- denly felt very lonely and worried. “What if the doctor cannot make broom better?” she sobbed sadly. “I might never see her again.” Mum reassured her everything would be fine and even suggested they go and visit broom in the hospital. A little later Doctor Fixer contacted them to say that broom needed several days in bed and a dose of very powerful magic cough mixture to get rid of the nasty infection. He also agreed they could come over at visiting time but would have to keep their distance in case they were in- fected too. Whiz did not enjoy the wait. She is always rushing around at her dizzy- ing whizzy speeds, so spending time sitting still proved challen- gingly difficult. “Why don’t you read a book,” sug- gested mum. Whiz shook her head, sighing loudly. “You could help with the chores in the house,” offered mum hopefully. Whiz groaned sadly, shaking her head and dropping her lip. “Perhaps go outside for a walk then!” mum said doubtfully. Whiz put her head in her hands, covered her eyes and cried silently to herself. She didn’t like walking; it was far too slow. Mum thought deeply, struggling to find something to occupy Whiz until visiting time. “I know,” she said with a smile. “I will take you out on my broom like I did before you learned to ride your own one. We can go for a super-fast zoom to blow away your sadness. Then we will go off to see how broom is doing at hospital.” Finally, Whiz raised half a smile and nodded in approval. They both put on their capes and hats, sat on mum’s big broom ready to head off for an adventure together. “Where shall we go?” mum asked. Whiz thought for a moment and then said, “Let’s go to the beach, I love the sea.” “You can use a magic leaf if you like,” suggested mum. Whiz took out a special golden leaf from her satchel. She held it at arms-length and said, “Rivers that flow, and winds that blow, speed to the sea, as fast as you’ll go!” The leaf burst into sandy glittering speckles raining down on mum’s broom and they zoomed off even faster than Whiz had ever been before. “Hold on tight Whiz,” squealed mum with delight. Whiz smiled broadly as they whizzed across the lands, over the snowy mountains and down to the sea on the other side of the Land of Magic. Ahead lay beautiful golden sandy beaches, edged with shallow orangey cliffs leading into a crystal- clear blue sea. The pair had a great time exploring, playing and building sandcastles. Mum magicked up a fabulous picnic lunch with ice-cream and jelly to finish. “This is where I once found treasure with cousin Whizby,” remembered Whiz. She pointed to the area ahead and the pair wandered over to investigate. “There is a special hidden cave around that cliff over there,” said mum knowingly. “I liked to play down here when I was a little girl.” “Did you have adventures too?” Whiz asked, surprisingly. Mum chuckled as they walked along the beach, she told Whiz about sev- eral special adventures she had around this area. Whiz loved listen- ing and imaged she was having the same adventures too. When they turned a corner ahead, Whiz could see a cave in the cliff. “There it is,” whispered mum excitedly. “What’s inside?” wondered Whiz. “When I was a little girl, like you, an old grumpy goblin lived deep in- side. He was called Grizzly, I think,” said mum mysteriously. “Was he scary,” worried Whiz. “No, not scary. Just very grumpy and wanting to stay quietly on his own,” reassured mum. “I doubt he is even there anymore. It was such a long time ago, Whiz.” The entrance to the cave looked a bit scary, despite mum’s reassur- ance. After a few paces inside the light dropped rapidly. “We need a magic lantern to light the way,” said mum. Whiz looked in her satchel but could not find a leaf to make one. “We will have to visit the magic tree later to refill your satchel,” advised mum. “Look, I will create a lantern for us.” Mum used her wand to cast the spell, “Bugs that glow and flames shall grow, light our way so shad- ows go.” A giant shining lantern appeared a few feet ahead bobbing and floating to show the way. Far at the back of the cave a voice groaned grumpily, “Leave me alone. Go away!” “He’s still here,” said mum excitedly. “Hello!” Whizardy Witch called, in her cheeriest voice. “We only want to be friends.” A loud rustling sound saw the crinkly old Goblin shuffling from the darkness ahead. “I thought I recognised you!” he said to mum. “You have been here before, I remember.” “You know me?” mum exclaimed, in surprise. “You have an amazing memory.” “I remember everything,” grumbled the Goblin. “That is why I stay in here. So, I don’t have to learn any- thing else. I just cannot cope with any more knowledge.” “Why not try a forgetting spell?” Whiz suggested sympathetically. “That way you could just start again and wouldn’t be so sad.” The Goblin chuckled, then laughed in a deep growling voice. “That is very thoughtful of you Whizardy Witch. Do you know one?” Whiz shook her head slowly. A for- getting spell was far too difficult for her. Even mum shrugged her shoulders realising this was a job for a powerful wizard. The Goblin’s face dropped, “I thought as much. A forgetting spell is not something everyone would know.” Whiz suddenly jumped up enthusi- astically, “I know, we can ask dad to speak to the Great Skyler at the castle. He is the wisest wizard in the Land of Magic. He will be able to help you.” Mum nodded in agreement, “You are right. Leave this with us and we will find a spell for you.” The Goblin smiled thankfully. This was the best news he had known in an age. They said their goodbyes as it was time to leave. They went straight to the witch hospital to visit Whiz’s broom. She was already looking much better and sitting up showing good signs of recovery. Doctor Fixer assured them she would be back in a couple of days, good as new. Whiz returned home with mum and was ready for bed after their long exciting day. “Can we go out again tomorrow?” she asked sleepily. “I expect so,” said mum as she tucked her in her bed covers. “I will talk to dad about the forgetting spell.” Whiz was already sound asleep dreaming of her broom and their fun day together. *** And that is the story of Whizardy Witch and the Poorly Broomstick