The Enchanted Forest: Adalynn

 The enchanted forest was  beautiful and dark and noisy. Adalyn loved her home. She had lived here for almost three hundred years. The colors and familiar noises made her feel warm and welcome. There were all shades of green. Some of the plants were such a dark green they were almost black. Some of the ferns were a light green that stood tall and made a beautiful backdrop for the trees that seemed to reach for the sun. Some of the birds were tiny little humming birds that drank the sweet juice from the flowers at the edge of the forest where the sun could reach. Those humming birds were tiny, but they flapped their wings so fast they sounded like a swarm of noisy crickets. She grinned. She had named one of her favorite humming birds Anna. Anna loved to zoom around and around Addison's head. She would giggle and run and sometimes sing. Her singing always scared Anna away. She couldn't figure out why that was. She loved to sing because she was so very happy.

Adalynn was in a special training program. She had been training for this big day ever since she was born. She was one of the very few chosen to be a good witch. If she passed only two more tests she would get her witch uniform instead of having to wear a t-shirt with W.I.T. on it. Oh how she wanted a broom so she could fly around the treetops. She giggled just thinking about it. 

She had lots of friends in the forest. Sometimes she got busy playing with them and forgot that she had to study hard to learn her lessons. She especially loved Charlie. Charlie lived on the edge of the meadow. The meadow was a beautiful place. The grass was green and the flowers were beautiful; there were red, yellow, pink, and purple ones. She especially loved the peaceful quiet. It was so different from her noisy part of the forest. She smiled to herself. Her little friends were quite noisy, even the squirrels seemed to chatter all day. The only noise she heard at her friend's place was the soft clucking of chickens. Charlie loved her chickens and spent lots of time with them making sure they had enough to eat and fresh water to drink.

Charlie always seemed to be smiling when Adalynn dropped by. She was a good friend  and encouraged her to study for her tests that were coming up soon. Today she told Adalynn to beware of going too deep into the forest. She had heard of a bad witch making her home in the forest. She had heard that the witch could make herself beautiful or even change into the shapes of animals. She was glad she lived far away from her.

 Adalynn assured her friend, Charlie, that she would not go deeper into the forest. She thought she heard someone calling her name with an angry voice. "Oh dear. I probably forgot something again. I have such trouble keeping track of time." "Coming! she yelled. I'll be there as fast as I can."

When she got to her instructors they were both smiling. It was time for the watermelon test. When they saw Adalynn running towards them they said, "You are late! Once again you are late. If you do not pass this test you will not receive the magic broom." Adalynn's eyes got big when she saw the  Head Witch Principal sprinkle pickle juice over the slice of watermelon.

"Oh no. I can't do it. I think I might be sick." Then she thought about being a good little witch to all the animals and folks that lived in the forest. She could do this. She could do this. Yes! She could do this. And she did.

There was a little lost Gnome that witnessed the watermelon test and thought, "Oh why oh why would they do that to that sweet little girl? I need to find my way out of here and find Marleewood. I just know Faun is there visiting Grandma Lu. I don't think this is a good place for someone as little as me. Yuk! Pickle juice?"