Bedtime 8/21

For me, the hardest part about telling a bedtime story is getting started. Sometimes it is easy, and the basic idea pops into my head without much effort. But most of the time, I sit there for a couple of minutes with two very impatient toddlers, searching for the right place to start. Tonight it was harder than usual, probably because I had set the expectation for myself that I was going to write it down and post it in this blog! While I was wrestling with that, the little boy piped up with, “I want a story about a witch and a goblin!” So I ran with it.

Once upon a time, a witch lived in a little house deep in the dark forest. Now this wasn’t a mean witch like you hear about in some stories. This witch was a grandmother who knew special things about the plants and animals of the forest, and knew how to help people who were sick. The other people didn’t understand how she knew these things so they had to call her a witch. The witch didn’t mind, because she knew that the other people just didn’t understand. She was happy living alone in the forest, and collecting herbs and sometimes knowing enough to help people who came to her.

One day, a goblin happened upon the witch’s house while she was out in the forest gathering berries. The goblin was traveling from the north to the south, trying to find as much mischief as he could along the way. He stopped at the edge of the forest and said, “Aha! Now here is a fine opportunity for some mischief!” He went right into the witches house and grabbed all of the herbs that the witch had painstakingly prepared and spread them all around the witches house and ground them into the dust under his dirty feet. He then hid in the forest and waited for the witch to come home.

The witch returned home and at once knew that something was wrong. “Oh dear!” she said, “Something is amiss with my house! I wonder what has been going on?” She went into her house and saw that all of the herbs were missing. “Oh dearie me! Someone has come into my house and taken all of my herbs. That’s too bad. I hope that no one will need any help before I have a chance to gather the herbs again!” The witch busily set to the task of replenishing her stock.

This did not please the goblin. He had been hoping that the witch would be sad or angry, so he could laugh at her. He went off in a huff, looking for more mischief. Later that day, he came upon a hornet’s nest hanging from a tree. “Aha!” he exclaimed, “This hornet’s nest will look very fine in the witch’s bed!” He grabbed the hornet’s nest and made off towards the witches house. The hornets got very upset and tried to sting the goblin, but he had such thick skin, he hardly even noticed, which got the hornets even more upset. The goblin went right into the witch’s bedroom and put the hornet’s nest under her blanket. He then retreated to the edge of the forest to watch the fun.

The witch returned and knew at once that something was amiss. She saw a couple of angry hornets outside her house and asked them what was the matter. They calmed down and told her about the goblin and his trick. She asked these hornets to go back to the nest and explain the other hornets that she was going to come in and take the nest back to where it belonged. When the witch went into her bedroom and picked up the nest, most of the hornets understood and were very calm. There was one who hadn’t understood and he was so angry still that he stung the witch. The other hornets quickly explained to him that the witch was trying to help and he calmed down and apologized. The witch understood that the hornet that stung her was only trying to protect his nest and she didn’t get angry even though the sting had hurt quite a bit. The witch picked up the nest and much to the chagrin of the goblin, carried it back into the forest and put it back into a tree.

On the way back to her house the witch thought about the goblin. She thought, “I know a particular herb that will make the goblin sad and want to see his mother. If I can only think of a way to get him to drink it, he’ll probably run home!” When she got back to her house, she made a tea out of the herb and poured into a big, tall glass. She then took it outside and said loudly, “What a delicious tea I have made for myself! I think that I will go find some berries and mushrooms and come back and have a yummy snack and drink my tea!” With that, she set the tea down on her front porch and walked off into the forest.

The goblin wasted no time. “Aha!” he exclaimed, “Won’t she be disappointed to come back and find that someone has drunk her tea!” He leaped up and drank the tea in one gulp. All of a sudden, he was overcome by sadness and remembered that he hadn’t seen his mother in what seemed like forever. He ran back up the path, headed north to goblin land.

When the witch returned, she saw that the glass was empty and smelled suspiciously like goblin. She smiled and sat down to eat her mushroom and berry snack.