| This story is about a little girl who is a witch, and it’s fair to say that it’s more sweet than spooky. Her name is Katie, and her school mates think she is rather odd, and don’t really believe that she can do magic. She’s afraid of Halloween, because she thinks they will tease her more than usual, but in fact she has quite a few useful tricks and treats up her sleeve. Read by Natasha. Duration 8.52 Once upon a time, there was a girl called Katie. Katie was seven. And she lived in nice house with her mum and a dog called Muffin. And it was all quite normal really. Except for one thing. They were witches. Well, except for Muffin, who was a D-witch, which is a dog who casts spells. Anyway being a witch wasn’t so bad. Mum would just twitch her nose and all the cleaning would get done. Dad would wave his stick, and the lawn would cut itself. Muffin would click his paws, and a few dog treats would tumble out of the sky. They’d even taught Katie some magic. She knew how to make her homework do itself. And her room got tidied just by twitching her ear. But there was just one thing Katie really didn’t like. Halloween. Once a year, when the leaves were falling off the trees, and the nights were getting longer, all the children in her school and along her street would get terribly excited about Halloween. They made costumes of horrible looking witches. With long pointy noses, and spots, and nasty black hats, and broomsticks. And Katie said in school: “Witches aren’t like that, really. My mum looks quite nice.” And all the other girls fell about laughing. “Katie thinks she’s a witch,” they laughed. “She’s ugly and horrible, just like a witch.” And when Katie went home that day, she was really upset. She cried and cried and cried. And when her mum asked her what the matter was, she said: “Everyone hates witches. And they especially hate them at Halloween.” And her mum tried to explain that although some people didn’t like witches, it was also quite useful sometimes, like when the washing up got done all by itself. “I don’t ever want to have anything to do with witch-craft again,” said Katie angrily. But on Halloween night, all the girls from her school were organising a trick or treat tour of the street. And Katie didn’t want to go, because she’d decided she didn’t want to have anything to do with witch-craft. Never, never, never…. But her mum said she had to. Because a witch can hardly stay in on Halloween. And she whispered something in Katie’s ear. Do you know what it was? Well, I’ll tell you in a minute. Anyway, Katie went to join the other girls. And some of them started laughing at her. “Katie doesn’t have to dress up, because she’s already a witch,” they laughed. And Katie felt cross. And embarrassed. But she decided to say nothing. At the first house, they got a load of sherbet lemons. At the second, a jumbo pack of sweeties. At the third, loads and loads of crisps. And at the forth, a giant packet of chocolate biscuits. But at the fifth house, there lived a man called Mr Bones. And Mr Bones didn’t like children. He certainly didn’t see why he should give them any treats. “Buzz off, you stupid kids,” he said when they knocked on the door. “Trick or treat, trick or treat…” cried the girls. “Yes, well, I think I’ll take the trick, if it’s all the same to you,” said Mr Bones. And a horrible smile creased up his face. “Because you’re just a bunch of stupid little girls, and you don’t scare me.” “But one of us is a real witch,” said Amelia, the biggest of the girls. “Yes, yes, Katie’s a real witch,” they all cried. But Mr Bones just laughed and laughed. “That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard,” he said. “Go on, Katie,” said Amelia. “Let’s see if you really are a witch.” And so Katie stepped forwards. “You don’t look scary to me,” said Mr Bones. “You’re just a stupid little girl.” But Katie remembered what her mum had whispered in her ear. Do you know what it was? A special spell. So right then, Katie recited the magic words. And she wriggled her ear. And all the girls gasped in amazement. Because suddenly Mr Bones wasn’t Mr Bones anymore. He was a little brown, fluffy hamster. Inside a cage. Running around and around on a wheel. All the girls laughed and laughed. Katie leaned into the cage. “Is it fun being a hamster?” The little creature squeaked and shook its head. And Katie spun the wheel, so that he had to run faster and faster. And then she recited the magic words and Mr Bones was turned back into a man again. “I’ll get you some treats, girls,” he said very quickly and nervously. And he came back with tons of chocolate bars, fizzy drinks, biscuits, and even a new Barbie DVD for each girl. “Please come back next year girls,” he said. “I’ll have even better stuff for you.” And he went back inside, looking very nervous. And as they went down the rest of the street, everyone had heard that there was a real witch out trick and treating tonight, so they all gave the girls even more sweets and biscuits than usual, and even some toys. And Katie was the most popular girl in her class. “You know, maybe it’s not so bad being a witch after all,” she said when she got home. “And I think I’m going to enjoy Halloween from now on.” |