Once Upon A Time, part III

It was truly amazing. As many times as the Does had been to the grocery store, they had never noticed the evil looking store sitting right next to it. Now, as they stepped off the broom and stared at the storefront, they had no idea how they could have missed it. The sun seemed to not be shining on it. Bats flapped around. Some eerie organ music was being piped through a PA system that leaked out into the parking lot. The area right in front of the store was full of brooms, and green people kept coming in and out of the store with armfuls of magic supplies. Every once in a while, one of them would erupt in a fit of cackling.

The witch, noting the surprised looks on their faces, stated simply, “Normal humans tend to ignore the truly weird,” and hurried toward the store. Perplexed, the Does followed.

Inside the store, the Does were amazed again as it looked just like the interior of a Wal-Mart. The only noticeable difference was the merchandise. The witch was pulling out a shopping cart, and started towards an aisle marked “Magical Animal Care”.

John started to ask why it looked so different on the outside than on the inside, but the witch anticipated his question and replied, “We’re just normal people. It looks like that on the outside because if it looked like a Wal-Mart, humans would come in and start poking their noses into our secrets. Since it looks like some silly fairy tale outside, people assume it’s their imagination and ignore it. They don’t even realize they saw it.”

Confused, John decided not to ask anymore questions.

The witch grabbed something that looked like hedge clippers and tossed them into the cart. “That should be good enough,” she murmured. “Now, where do they keep the eye of newt?”

Eye of newt was found in “Creature Parts”, right between the ear of ape and the tail of mouse. They located the snodgrass in the produce section. As the witch was measuring out how much she might need to tempt the unicorn, John found himself drawn to a table of the reddest, most delicious looking apples he had ever seen. As he picked one up, the witch warned, “I wouldn’t if I were you. Not unless you want to sleep until some handsome prince comes and kisses you awake.”

John hastily put the apple back on the table.

The witch determined that dark chocolate would be the best bribe for the mermaids. After paying at the register, she and the Does remounted the broomstick and took off for the zoo.

NEXT: The Zoo and On