Whizardy Witch and The Rock Walker 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 flying far beyond the snow-capped moun- tains over lands she had never seen before. Ahead, a great valley drove her towards an imposing range of rocky hills. As she approached, a strange sight caught her attention. She slowed her broomstick unsure if her mind was playing tricks on her. One of the massive rocky outcrops was moving. “What do you think that is, broom?” she wondered nervously. “Do you think we should go and investigate?” Broomstick shuddered saying she should be careful. Before Whizardy Witch could change her mind and turn around, a giant head, made entirely of rocks, ap- peared alongside her. The monster spoke in a deep rolling voice that sounded like distant thunder, “What are you little creature?” For once, Whiz was speechless. The sight of this giant speaking rock head was too much even for her. Broomstick quivered again attempt- ing to fly away but the giant wrapped an enormous hand around them both and strode off into the distance. With each gigantic step they walked over hills and valleys and up into a dense, impassable mountain range. Within a couple of minutes, they had travelled miles into the unknown territory. Whiz finally found her voice. “Where are you taking us?” she pleaded. The giant tightened his grasp to en- sure they did not slip between his enormous fingers. “You are squashing me!” screamed Whiz in panic. She tried to pull a leaf from her satchel, but her arms were pinned against her sides. “I can’t breathe in here!” she shouted as loud as her tiny voice permitted. The giant eased his grip a little but not enough to allow Whiz to move freely. Ahead, a flat-topped moun- tain approached. Up one side was carved a great staircase. The giant sped up each step with ease until they emerged onto a vast expanse with a central hill that looked a lot like a rock house. “This is my home,” the giant rumbled. “I am called Rock Walker, I am the last of the stone giants living here in the Land of Rocks.” Inside the great house were huge stone chairs, a stone table and a gi- gantic stone bed. The giant placed Whizardy Witch down on the tab- letop and sat on one of the chairs to look more closely at her. “What is your name, little creature?” Whiz took several deep breaths now she was no longer squashed in the giant’s hand. She stood up as high as she possibly could and declared, “My name is Whizardy Witch, I am the fastest witch in the Land of Magic, you can call me Whiz if you like. This is Broomstick, my broomstick.” The giant choked out a powerful laugh that nearly blew the pair of them over, “Not so fast that you avoided me catching you, I think!” Whiz blushed at the statement, “You caught me off guard. I have never seen a walking mountain before.” “That is true enough little Whizardy the Witch, fastest in the Lands of all Magic,” the giant agreed. “There are no others anymore. I am indeed the last of my kind I think.” “Don’t you get lonely, being the last of your kind? Where did all the oth- ers go to? Did they all die or leave?” wondered Whiz sympathetically. The giant spluttered another huge laugh. This time the entire room, table and chairs shook like an earthquake. “Die?” he chuckled. “Stone giants don’t die little Whiz; they just get slower and slower until they can’t move anymore. Then there they stand, mountains of stone, until they gradually fade as the wind, rain, ice and snow chip them away.” “Oh!” Whizardy Witch said. “Are all mountains sleeping stone giants then?” “You are so funny, little Whizardy the Witch. I haven’t had this much fun in an age of ages.” Rock Walker stood up and clapped his great hands together in glee. Unfortunately for Whiz, this caused a noise, so loud, she had to clasp her hands to her ears and fell pain- fully backwards. “Oops, sorry,” the giant apologised. He picked her up and tried to dust her off gently, but this just pushed her over again. “Enough!” screamed Whiz. “You are hurting me.” The giant sat back down and put his head in his hands. He shook his head slowly then said, “Not all mountains are rock giants Whiz, but all rock giants are now mountains.” Whiz shook her head in confusion. “And yes, I get very lonely.” “Can’t any of the sleeping giants be woken up. Maybe I could use a wak- ing spell to stop them sleeping?” The giant placed his head close to Whiz and smiled kindly. “That is so nice of you to offer, but I doubt your magic is strong enough to wake a mountain, little Whizardy the Witch. I think it would be a mighty spell to wake one of my kind.” Whiz secretly agreed. How could she wake an entire mountain? She smiled and nodded in reluctant agreement. “I do know several powerful wizards, maybe I could ask if it would be possible?” Rock Walker sat back on his chair and scratched his head, “You are so kind little one. I am really pleased I met you today. What sort of magic do you know?” Whiz opened her satchel and showed the giant the coloured leaves inside, “Every one of these contains magic. I can do lots of dif- ferent spells. Would you like to see one?” The giant thought carefully for a moment then said, “You might not be able to wake up a mountain, young Whizardy, but what about that small statue over there?” He pointed a great big finger at a stone figure on the other side of the room, “Could your magic wake her up?” Whiz reached inside her satchel and pulled out three grey leaves. She asked the giant to take her closer to the statue so she could place the leaves on her head. “You need to wish very hard with me on this,” she said to Rock Walker. “This is not an easy spell to cast.” The giant gripped his other hand tightly and placed it against his lips hoping and wishing for all his worth. Whiz concentrated deeply, closed her eyes and said, “Your flesh is stone, your bones can’t break, now take a breath, it’s time to wake.” The leaves exploded in a black smoke. Outside, the sky darkened with thunder clouds. A fell wind whipped across the mountain as lightning flashed through the window and struck the statue in the chest. A great arching light fizzled around the statue causing it to groan and move. It looked up at the stone giant and Whizardy Witch and said, “Thank you, young witch. You have woken me from a deep sleep.” The giant jumped up and surpris- ingly started laughing and dancing around the room causing mayhem as the place shook and rattled violently. “Stop!” shouted Whiz as she stumbled all over the place. The giant paused, looked a little sheepish and said sorry again. He shivered with excitement as the statue announced her name was, Hope. “How long will this magic last Whiz?” he wondered eagerly. “Maybe a day or so. Any longer than that would require far more powerful spells than I can use,” she explained sadly seeing the disappointment in the giant’s eyes. “I am sorry it couldn’t be any longer. And now I have to be going too because my mum will be wondering where I am?” The giant nodded, “Well I shall enjoy every moment I have with my new friend, Whiz. Thank you for showing me your magic and for giving me this much pleasure. If you would ever like to come and see me again, I would dearly love to see you and broomstick very soon.” With that, Whiz clambered onto broomstick and squealed “Zoomedy Zoom, let’s go broom.” She frantically waved goodbye to Rock Walker and Hope as she whizzed out the house, across the mountains and back to the Land of Magic. *** And that is the story of Whizardy Witch and the Rock Walker.