Once Upon A Time, part VII

When they arrived back at the house, the witch was feeling a bit stressed. She knew they had only thirty minutes to go before Petey came back as a hideous bloodthirsty gargoyle bent on world destruction, and the recipe had specifically called for the potion to be stirred for fifteen minutes, no more or less. They were cutting it kind of close.

The Does seemed to be at ease. John had slept for most of the trip, but he and Jane were talking quietly now. Somehow, she got the feeling they thought it was over. They didn’t understand. One mistake, and Petey...and the world...was doomed.

As she pulled into the broomport, she mentally reviewed what had to be done. Go to the kitchen, fill the cauldron, boil the water (easily accomplished through magic), grab the eggs and flour, dump all the ingredients in, and start stirring. Meanwhile, one of the Does could grab a piece of Petey’s clothing and be ready. They would just make it.

Seventeen minutes later...

To the surprise of the Does, the mermaid scale was a weighing device that the witch used to measure out the eye of newt, then dropped into the cauldron with the other ingredients. Other than that, everything else was expected. All was in readiness. There was a minute to go. All that had to be done was to add the sock (all Jane was willing to give up...she couldn’t find the other one), and repeat the incantation. They were going to make it.

At the exact fifteen minute mark, Jane threw in the sock. The witch started to mutter:

“Suits breasted double and stairs moving and bears panda
Newts and frogs and toads and trains choo choo and brains monkey
Too children little and underwear their love poodles
Stew noodle chicken...boo bobbity bibbity.”

The cauldron started to smoke. The room went dark. An eerie silence engulfed the room.

The witch frowned. This wasn’t what was supposed to happen, was it?

Jane poked her. “Uh...were you supposed to say poodle or dachshund?”

The witch froze. “Oh...no...”

The cauldron erupted. The Does and the witch were thrown backwards into the wall. When the dust settled, there was Petey. Only, it wasn’t the Petey they knew and loved. It was Petey, the hideous bloodthristy gargoyle bent on world destruction. And was he ever hideous. His now eight foot tall body was covered in black fur, with giant bat wings protruding from his back. From his mouth emerged giant twelve inch fangs. His eyes gleamed an evil red, and he seemed to have put on four hundred pounds since last they saw each other. He surveyed the trio with hunger, and began to advance, licking his lips.

The witch had no idea what to do. She had never been this frightened in her life. Beside her, she could feel John trembling at the sight of his son, no longer the cute little child he had once carried in his arms, and never to be again. She couldn’t see Jane, and assumed she had passed out again. Oh well. This was it. Being unconscious for it was probably better.

But then, the witch heard a voice. It wasn’t her own, and it wasn’t John, and it wasn’t Petey. It was Jane. She said a single word.

“Petey.”

The gargoyle stopped. It looked at its mother, then gurgled happily and reached out to be held.
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Petey did not destroy the world. This, you probably guessed, because you’re still reading the story, and not the victim of a hideous, bloodthirsty gargoyle bent on world destruction. In fact, he grew up as a normal kid, went to school, got a football scholarship, and had a Hall of Fame career as a middle linebacker. He would always be a hideous bloodthirsty gargoyle, but at least he wasn’t bent on world destruction anymore.

The Does retired on his salary. They found that raising a gargoyle wasn’t that different from raising a human. The only real difference was that he started shaving a week later.

The witch went on a very successful lecture tour following her experiences. People came from miles around to hear her account of the whole affair. Particularly interesting was how to escape a charging dragon. Unfortunately, that part also resulted in several thrill seekers heading for Honalee to try their luck. We don’t know how that worked out. They never came back.

In the end, however, everyone in this story lived happily ever after...except for the rhinoceros. I mean, how much work can a no-horned rhino get anyway?

THE END