Sticky Toffee Surprise: A story retold

Lovisma was planning a big surprise for Halloween night.

Last year Breeze spoiled her surprise, this year she was being careful.

“He won’t ruin my Halloween night.” She muttered. She sat on a fat mushroom watching her spoon do laps of the pot as it stirred the thick bubbling mixture.  “Hmm vanilla toffee apples who can resist them?” She giggled.

On hearing a twig snap she looked up, then relaxed as one of the Muppet Bunnies dashed past her. He was carrying a carrot and intent on getting back home.

“Nothing will spoil this surprise. I am safe here as that stupid Ogre is helping Elegant and the Fairies make bobbing marshmallows.” She said.

Breeze was standing a short distance away disguised as a giant pumpkin.  He got the idea from Bob (click here to see him as a pumpkin.)  Breeze wished to prevent another Halloween disaster created by the tiny witch.  Everyone knew Lovisma hates pumpkins.

Sometime later the wood was filled with the silence, as everyone was preparing by dressing as either their favourite witch or ghost, Lovisma placed buckets of her special toffee apples around the party tables. The apples sparkled and glowed. “What child or ogre could resist these twinkling smiling apples?” she muttered.

Meanwhile, Breeze was holding a meeting with the adults. “I am not sure what will happen when you take a bite so I took one from her basket.” He stared at the Fairies and Elves who were busy shaking their heads as they muttered things like, “well you would have to be mad to take a bite”.

He held an apple in his hand and stared at it.

Tulip said, “Well we won’t know until you take a bite from it.”

Breeze didn’t want anyone to think he was afraid. He closed his eyes and took a bite. Hmm, it tastes lovely. Then as he watched the toffee ran off the apple like a river and lay around his feet. He made an important discovery. I am stuck. He groaned.

Elegant said, “I bet she plans on taking all of the children’s treats while they are stuck to the ground. I am sure it will wear off soon Breeze.”

“How soon? I don’t want to miss the best party ever.”

He sounded so sad that the fairies and elves started working on a spell to free his feet. Once he was free. Breeze said, “I think you should create a special spell for Lovisma.”

The party was great. The children loved the bobbing marshmallows that looked like giant spiders. They laughed when Matt tried to eat a real spider thinking it would taste of marshmallow. The spider was not happy as he scuttled away into the dark night.

The children turned their attention on the toffee apples. Lovisma held her breath and waited.

Matt grabbed an apple. He took a bite. She flew upwards impatient to see his distress when his feet became stuck. However, once he broke the skin, the apple fizzled and sparkled sending bolts of dancing lights into the night sky.

Lisbeth, Lillian and Daisy-Lyah’s apples played a musical tune the minute they held them.  Children were grabbing apples and dancing and laughing with delight as each apple revealed a treat.

Lovisma was angry. Her face was bright red. Something was not right.

“Give me one!” She grabbed an apple and instantly the ground beneath her feet began to shake. Everyone ran for cover as two tall scarecrows appeared carrying pumpkins. They placed the pumpkins on the ground and rolled them at Lovisma.

She was knocked off her feet to land on a huge pumkin. It seemed to swallow her then with a soft, pop, her feet and arms and head appeared.

Lovisma screamed.”I’m Trapped. Help. I’m not a pumpkin.I don’t even like pumpkins.”

Hisilicon K3

She waddled off into the wood crying, “I bet you did this Breeze.  I will get out and then you had better watch out.”

Lisbeth was sitting beside Breeze shivering. “I hope she doesn’t get out. She is nasty.  But why do you look happy? You should be worried Mr. Breeze.”

He smiled and said, “I am not, because Elegant added her forgetful potion to the spell so Lovisma will escape from the pumpkin but she will have forgotten everything and we will have a great party.”

Daisy-lyah and Lillian were kind Fairies and they filled a basket full of treats for the naughty witch.

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A note from Breeze.

Hi,

I understand some people are asking why is there a fishing line dangling down the side of a blog site about a wood?

The answer is simple. The worm – Hector and I have found a great use for this.

It happened by chance when I was taking a nap in my favourite tree after a morning spent fishing (I caught nothing!)

The rod slipped and the hook slid down to the ground where Mrs. Groundsel was laying out a picnic for her grand children. My hook caught on a berry pie. I woke found the rod lying across my feet and pulled the line up to discover – a nice warm berry pie.

So there you have it, – Hector hops on the hook, I lower him over those people below having a picnic and he finds a tasty snack for this ogre. In return I allow Hector’s family to live in the mossy mound outside my cave undisturbed, guaranteed never to be dug.

3rd June – day to be remembered.

It was the 3rd day of June. Breeze remembered this the moment he woke. The reason why was simple. It was his birthday.

He fell out of his broken rickity bed, got dressed in a hurry singing happy birthday to me. He raced into his kitchen and stopped.

The kitchen table was bare. There was not one gift sitting on it. He felt sad.”No one has remembered.” He muttered as he made his breakfast of oatmeal, apples and fresh spring water.

After eating he felt a little better, perhaps they left it outside, he thought. He peeped out his cave door and saw nothing.  He checked under every bush and shrub on the steep mountain path. He got to the wood and checked the path into the wood. There was nothing. Not one thing dangling from a branch not a muffin or a cupcake. No sandwishes for me today, he thought and decided he should go for a nap.

 

On the way to the tree he met a rabbit called Bucket. “Please help me I’ve lost one of my children.”

“Which one?” Breeze asked but the rabbit was running away shouting, “I’ll check the rabbit tunnels you checkout the pathways.”

Breeze walked the whole way around the wood, he didn’t find one young rabbit. He thought it rather strange that he did not meet one of anything. “Stranger and stranger,” he muttered.

Then he spotted Bucket  running and hopping towards the mountain. He decided to follow him.

As Breeze climbed he began to suspect he was having a dream. It was the first time in his life when he had not been greeted by many animals and beings singing “Happy Birthday” when he entered the wood.

“I might as well go home and bake my own cake,” he mumbled.

At the entrance to the cave he stopped and sniffed the air. There was a strange smell of sugar and a whiff of what he suspected was sandwishes. “Wishful thinking,” he said and trudged into the kitchen.

“Happy Birthday” The roar from his friends made him jump. He banged his head off the stone ceiling. The mountain shook. Maisie who had accompanied the witches fell into the bowl of birthday orange juice and had to be fished out by Elegant using her wand.  Mrs. Groundsel who had fallen asleep on Breeze’s chair woke when the chair toppled over. Luckily she landed on Lovisma.

Breeze stood rubbing his head and smiling. He began to chuckle. “I thought you forgot.”

Tulip flew up to him, “Of course we didn’t but we needed to get your present ready. Look.”

Breeze looked. “You baked. It is the largest cake I have ever seen. Thank you everyone.”

Hamish was rubbing his back. “It is the heaviest cake I have ever carried. I’m not carrying it back. Let’s eat.”

Breeze frowned then asked. “But why did you need me out of here?”

Everyone moved aside to reveal a brand new giant bed made out of a fallen beech tree.

Breeze didn’t know what to say, luckily Lillian and Lovisma knew what to do, they both clambered onto the bed.

“It’s really bouncy.” They said and they showed how bouncy the thick layer of moss was as they did tumbles and rolls on it.

Breeze thanked everyone and said, “It’s my birthday, lets enjoy the party.” And they did.