Little Inklings 2024

AN UNEXPECTED GIFT By: Natalie Maquilarena ’28 Once upon a time, there was a small cottage on a hill in the middle of a magical forest, in a magical land. There was a narrow cobblestone path that led to the front door. The cottage had a lovely garden in the front yard, consisting of many flowers and shrubs such as dandelions, daisies, and tulips. To the side, there was a small pond with lily pads and cattails that occasionally received a visit from a duck or two. The cottage was a relatively small home, as it had a small kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom. In the kitchen, there were several large windows, letting natural light in. There was also a cauldron and a stool with random herbs catered across it, andatallshelffilledwithseveralmagicalsubstances,potions, and herbs. Many were miscellaneous potions, but some were jars labeled things such as “Chamomile” and “Rainbows in a bottle”. Close by, there was a small table, set for two with a checkered tablecloth. On the table, there was a teapot and a half-eaten charcuterie board. To the side, there was an old wooden rocking chair by a fireplace with a few books and an unfinished knitting project. You would think a witch’s house would be scary, old, crooked, maybe even sad. But this was a good witch, who thankfully didn’t eat children, and focused mainly on cures to many curses and illnesses. Inside lived a young witch and her cat Bucky. The witch’s name was Betty. One day, Betty was searching for a specific ingredient for her next potion when she came across a book. She looked left andrightbeforepicking itupandopening it.Itseemedtobe in another language she didn’t quite understand, so she decided to take it home. Later that day, when she had returned to her cottage, she wasn’t able to decipher it. She tried and tried, and re-read itmultipletimes,butsheneverunderstood.Afterafew hours, Betty had enough and decided to quit. Betty, being quite curious, decided to visit one of her dearest friends named Pip. Pip was her most intelligent friend and had a vast knowledge of the different languages spoken around their world. The journey would take Betty a week if she decided to walk, which was more comfortable for her; however, she had to be back within four days for the annual Moonlight Festival. Betty had been making potions and preparing for the festival for weeks, so she had to make thedreadfuldecisionofusingherbroom.Shesighedandwent topackseveralthings inasatchel, includingdriedfruits,nuts, healing potions, a special gift for Pip, and of course, the book. She set out a few bowls of cat foot and said goodbye to Bucky. Bucky rubbed his body against Betty’s legs, his way of saying goodbye. She grabbed her broom from a dusty corner in the living room and exited her house. She wasn’t quite sure how tofeelaboutflyingforthefirsttime,butshebracedherselfand hopped on the broom. The first thirty seconds were just embarrassing. Betty, a witch, couldn’t even fly properly on her broom. She pushed up with her legs but hardly got anywhere, she just bounced a fewfeetforward.Afterseveralattempts,Bettymanagedtoget up in the air. It was difficult to maintain her balance without having the broom zigzag all over the place. She remembered exactly why she quit flying. It had been around midday when Betty had left. By nightfall, she was almost halfway to Pip’s. She gripped her broom and braced for landing. She zoomed down into a clearing she spotted and unfortunately, she couldn’t slow down for a smooth landing and landed in a bush. The next day, Betty flew out from the forest with some trouble, but she managed. Soon, she saw Pip’s house in the distanceanddecidedto landearlyandwalktherestoftheway. This landing,muchsmootherthantheother,thankfullydidn’t result inhercrashing intorandombushes.At last,sheknocked on Pip’s door. Pip opened the door, looking sleepy, wearing a blue nightgownwith yellow stars and amatching hat. As soon as he saw Betty the sleepiness vanished from his eyes and he embraced Betty in a hug. “Betty! I haven’t seen you in years!” said Pip, his voice filledwithexcitement.BettyhadforgottenhowsmallPipwas. After all, he was sort of like a large, two-foot-tall mouse who walked on his legs like a human. “Come in, come in! What brings you here Betty?” he said, leading her inside to a spot with two chairs by a fireplace. “Well,acoupleofdaysagoIwas inthewoodsandIfound a strange book, but it seemed to be in a different language I couldn’t read,” Betty said as she sat down, took out the book, and handed it to Pip. “Hm… I think I’ve seen this book before! Wait here!” Pip dashedawayexcitedlytogofetchsomethingfromabookshelf. He returned to Betty a fewminutes later with the same book, except his version was a little newer, cleaner, and in much better condition. “It’s quite an interesting read. It is just a historybookaboutthecreationofourworld!Exceptyourcopy seems like an original! They were written in an ancient Elven languageand latertranslated intoEnglish.I’vealwaysdreamt ofbeingtheproudownerofanoriginalcopyofLandofMyths! I’d be happy to let you keep mine, I think I have another copy somewhere,” Betty felt like she had been slightly let down, as she was excited for it to be some sort of potion book or something like that. Pip and Betty traded books. Pip let out a little squeal and placed it on his coffee table. “I’m glad you like it, Pip. I wasn’t sure what I would do with it!” Betty suddenly remembered her gift for Pip. “Oh, one sec.” She paused to take out Pip’s gift. “Here you go Pip! I brought you a special present.” Betty smiled and handed it to him. Pip took it and excitedly began to unwrap it. Out came a cute little porcelain gnome. Pip smiled and went over to his kitchen where he placed it with the other little gnomes Betty had given him. Pip offered to let her stay for a bit for some tea andmaybesomecake.Shestayedforaroundanhour,thanked Pip, and began her journey back home. As soon as she arrived home, she realized she only had a day left to prepare for the festival. She greeted Bucky at the door and unpacked her bag. She gathered all the potions and thingsshewasgoingtosellatthefestivaltomorrowandplaced them on her table. Finally being able to relax for a bit, she sat down on her rocking chair, Bucky napping on his cat bed, and began reading her new book, Land of Myths. 56