Grizelda and the Poodle Potion

[SpinkyLala]

Grizelda and the Poodle Potion.

The Bad Witch Grizelda was not having a very successful day. She was in the kitchen, trying
to make a very special potion and bake a cake at the same time. The kitchen was in a mess
and Grizelda was getting herself in a muddle.
“Where is my wooden spoon? It should be here where I left it!” Grizelda went from one
bowl to another stirring wildly. Her black witch’s clothes were covered in white flour, and
she had chocolate smeared across her face.
Grizelda was expecting some special guests. Firstly, she was expecting Uncle Tom. He had
rather foolishly agreed to let the Bad Witch Grizelda test out a new potion on him. Secondly,
Rebecca, Uncle Tom’s niece, was coming to stay with two friends from her school. They
were very excited to be meeting Grizelda for the first time, as Rebecca had told them all
about her. They had never met a real witch before.
Grizelda was talking to herself as she tried to mix the cake ingredients. She was trying to
make a very special chocolate cake. Grizelda could make the most magnificent gingerbread,
but wanted to impress the girls with an extra special treat. Not only were they going
to enjoy a delicious chocolate cake, but they were also going to see Uncle Tom turn into a
dog, right before their very eyes.
Well! That was the plan, except that, at the moment, it didn’t look as though there would
be a cake, or a potion, at all.
“Pull yourself together!” muttered the Bad Witch as she flicked through both recipe books
at the same time. “Where was I? Where is my dog’s tongue?”
Finally she put the cake in the oven and slammed the door shut. Grizelda sprinkled some
salt into the potion and gave it a shake. She pushed in the stopper and gave it another,
harder shake and then re-read the recipe. The potion had turned a deep red colour.
“That’s it,” she exclaimed! “That’s the colour. Yes!”
The beautiful aroma of chocolate started to fill the kitchen and Grizelda began to fill with
confidence. She sniffed the air. “Delicious!” she exclaimed. “I am worn out after all this
activity. I think it is feet up time!”
Grizelda went into the living room with a freshly-made cup of luke-warm gutter juice, and
sat back in her favourite uncomfortable armchair. She imagined Rebecca’s face lighting up
as her Uncle Tom turned into a dog. Grizelda smiled to herself.

No Rest for the Wicked

Just as Grizelda started to relax, there was a knock at the door. The bad witch jumped to her
feet and brushed the flour from her dress. She hurried to the door and opened it wide.
Standing on the path were Rebecca and her school friends, with Uncle Tom behind them.
Rebecca rushed forward and gave the Bad Witch a huge hug.
“These are my friends. I have told them all about you!” Rebecca said excitedly.
“Come in then, girls!” said Grizelda waving them into the front room.
The whole cottage was filled with the smell of freshly-baked chocolate cake. “Mmmmmmm!
something smells delicious,” said Rebecca with a smile. She turned to her two friends and
said, “Grizelda bakes lovely cakes!”
“I will put the kettle on then, shall I?” said Grizelda. She turned and walked into the kitchen.
She had a big smile on her face and had a lovely warm feeling that this afternoon was going
to be a lot of fun.
Uncle Tom, on the other hand, was very quiet. His mind was on the potion that he was
expected to drink. The Bad Witch Grizelda wanted the potion to be a surprise for Rebecca
and her friends. She had told Tom that the potion would not last long and would be exciting
for the girls to see, but she hadn’t told him what effect it would have on him, and he was
very worried. He had seen Grizelda quite a lot recently, enough to have worked out that
Grizelda was called the Bad Witch, not because she was evil but because she was very bad
at magic.
Grizelda came back in to the room carrying a large tray. On the tray were a delicious looking
chocolate cake, a large pot of tea, and a bottle of dark red liquid!

One Slice or Two

The three girls and Grizelda all sat on one side of a table, whilst a very worried-looking Uncle
Tom sat fidgeting on the other side. Grizelda cut into the chocolate cake with a big knife
and put equal-sized slices on four plates. She put the plates in front of Rebecca and her
friends, and kept the last plate for herself.
“Where is my slice?” enquired Uncle Tom.
“Oh you can’t have a slice, It might affect the potion!” replied Grizelda. She picked up the
bottle and passed it over. Uncle Tom took it reluctantly.
The three girls started to giggle. They were very excited at the prospect of seeing some real
magic. They all started to eat the fabulous cake.
Grizelda took a big bite of her slice. It really was a fabulous cake. “Come on Tom!” she said.
“If you don’t hurry and drink the potion there won’t be any cake left for you. If the potion is
as good as my cake, then you have nothing to worry about.”
“Yes!” agreed the girls. “The cake is fantastic. Go on Uncle! Drink the potion.”
The girls and Grizelda began to egg him on. Tom pulled the cork from the bottle and smelled
the liquid. He pulled a disgusted face.
“Oh, It smells horrible!” he exclaimed. “I don’t think I can do this.”
“But you promised! PLEASE!” Rebecca begged.
“Yes, you promised!”Grizelda said rather sternly.
Uncle Tom lifted the bottle to his mouth and took a swig. The girls and Grizelda were now
watching him intently as they all nibbled at the delicious cake.
Tom wiped his mouth. “This doesn’t taste bad. Not bad at all.” He raised the bottle again
and finished drinking it down. Everyone cheered and continued to stare at him and munch
through their cake.

Grizelda Fears Failure

The three girls remained very excited but Grizelda started to question Uncle Tom.
“Can you feel anything?” she enquired.
“No! I don’t feel any different.” He said. “But that really did taste nice. It was like a really
good root beer. I love root beer!”
Grizelda started to worry. She didn’t want to let Rebecca down in front of her friends, but
her potions had a habit of not working. “The cake was such a success that it would be rotten
if the potion didn’t work,” Thought the Bad Witch.
Then Tom started to rub his eyes. The girls had all finished their cake and were now looking
like they could burst with excitement. Grizelda ate the last mouthful of her slice just as
Uncle Tom said “Hold on! Something is starting to happen to my eyes.”
Grizelda swallowed her cake and clapped her hands. “What? What? Tell Me!” She
shrieked!
“Well!” Uncle Tom said, “It looks as though you are all getting hairy!”
Grizelda’s face dropped. She turned and looked at the girls and then at the empty cake
plates. Then she looked at Uncle Tom and said “Oops!”
Uncle Tom rubbed his eyes again but when he opened them, all he could see were dogs!
To be precise, there were three puppies and a rather old looking mongrel.
“Grizelda! What have you done?” cried Uncle Tom in a very stern voice to the older dog.
“You bad dog. Just wait till you’re a Witch again!”
The old dog jumped from the table with its tail between its legs and climbed on to Grizelda’s
favourite chair. Tom turned to check on the three puppies but they had already jumped
from the table and were running about the living room.
“Girls, behave!” He said in his best dog trainer voice, but too late, as one of the puppies
knocked over a reading table. He didn’t know which puppy was which girl, and they seemed
to be very excited. Then Uncle Tom noticed a big puddle on the floor. Yes! They were very
excited. “Ok! Enough! Who had the accident?” He said sternly. The puppies ignored him
and carried on running around. Then the old dog started to bark.
He went to the kitchen to get a mop but as soon as his back was turned he heard a crash.
One of the puppies had jumped on the table and knocked the plates off. The puppy was
trying to get to the rest of the cake.
“ENOUGH!” screamed Uncle Tom. “BAD DOG!”
The old dog continued to bark and then started to howl.
Uncle Tom had to think fast!

It’s a Dog’s Life

“STOP!” Uncle Tom Shouted at the top of his voice. Again “STOP!”
The puppies and the old dog all stopped what they were doing, and looked at Tom with
their tales wagging.
“If you are good doggies” started Uncle Tom, “I will take you for a walk.”
All the dogs started to yap and jump about.
“Wait!” cried Uncle Tom again. “I said If! If you are good doggies! You have to behave! That
means staying quiet whilst I clean up this mess.”
The dog and the puppies all seemed to understand. They watched Uncle Tom in silence as
he mopped up the ‘accident’ and straightened up the room up. He then opened a cupboard
drawer and pulled out some strong twine.
Tom called to the older dog. “You are going to set a good example. Yes!” Then he patted its
head.
The old dog barked as if to say yes. Tom then tied a piece of twine around its neck to make a
collar and lead. He called the puppies over one by one and did the same.
Uncle Tom then went back into the kitchen and filled his pockets with Grizelda’s lovely
shortbread biscuits. He returned to the surprisingly well-behaved pack of dogs.
“Come on then, you lot. Walkies!”
Uncle Tom led the very excited, yapping and barking pack out of the front door!

Park Life

Tom had never owned a dog before and now he had four. He wasn’t sure what he should
do. After all, they weren’t actually dogs at all but three little girls in his care and a rather
clumsy witch. The puppies ran round and around in circles, and kept getting their leads
twisted. Uncle Tom was finding it very difficult to hold all four of them at the same time. He
eventually walked the pack to an open space next to the forest.
Uncle Tom thought for a moment. He looked at the big old scruffy dog which he knew to be
Grizelda and said, “Sit!” The dog obediently sat down. “Good girl!” Tom said and he gave the
dog a piece of gingerbread. Then he said very clearly, “I am going to let you off the lead, If I
call out ‘biscuit’ you are to return immediately.” The dog and the puppies all stared at the
pocket that the biscuit had come from, their tails wagging excitedly.
Tom untied Grizelda’s lead and after a little pause she ran barking towards the forest. “Oh
well,” thought Tom, “she should be fine. She is old enough to stay out of trouble.” He shook
his head, as he didn’t really believe that at all.
The three puppies watched as Grizelda ran off and they became very excited. They thought
they were going to be let off the lead as well and jumped about, yapping all the while. “No,
no no,” Said Tom. You three are too young to go off like that!”
He walked the puppies for what seemed like ages, but they would-not calm down.
Eventually he got to a bench and had a rest. He gave the three puppies a biscuit each and
they all seemed to be a little quieter. They all looked at him with their little puppy dog eyes.
“Ok!” he said. “I will let you off for one minute, but you must be good.”
The three puppies yapped excitedly, jumping and spinning around. Uncle Tom struggled to
get the leads undone.
The three little puppies looked like they were having the best time, as they chased each
others’ tails. Uncle Tom sat back on the bench and started to relax a little. As he watched
the three pups at play he started to think. Maybe, having a dog wouldn’t be such a bad
idea. It would certainly keep him company, and he would be fitter if he had to walk a dog
every day. A smile spread across his face.
Then he heard a splash!

Wet Dogs

Uncle Tom suddenly remembered that there was a pond close by. He looked down but
could only see two puppies. In a panic he ran towards the pond.
Swimming around, as happy as could be, was the third puppy.
“You naughty dog.” Cried Uncle Tom, but then he heard a second splash, and then a third.
All three puppies were now swimming about in the water. Tom was upset with himself that
he had let it happen but could see that the three friends were having a wonderful time. The
pond was not very big so he could keep a close watch and he let them carry on. They
seemed to be having so much fun, climbing out and jumping back in. Soon they tired. Tom
gave them all another biscuit each. The three puppies now looked so worn out that Uncle
Tom had to scoop them up in his arms and carry them. They were soaking wet.
As he got to the edge of the park, Tom suddenly remembered Grizelda. He called out her
name at the top of his voice but there was no sign of the fourth dog. Just for a moment Tom
started to worry. Then he remembered what he had said to her and called out loudly,
“Biscuit!
Out of the woods came the old dog, covered in mud. “Look at the state of you, you dirty
dog,” said Tom crossly. The dog barked at him, and after a quick biscuit break Tom led them
all home.
As soon as he got in the cottage, Tom lit a fire and towelled the three pups down. They
curled up together in front of the roaring fire and fell asleep. Uncle Tom drew Grizelda a
warm bath, and scrubbed her clean. She did not like it one bit, and there was soap and
water everywhere. When Tom had finally finished, the Bad Dog Grizelda jumped onto her
favourite chair, curled up and went to sleep.
Uncle Tom sat in the corner. He was worried about how long the cake’s effect would last,
but he, too, was tired and decided that he should catch some sleep as well, just in case
when he woke up, they might still be dogs. He shut his eyes and drifted to sleep.

All Change

Uncle Tom awoke with a start. The fire was starting to die down, so he must have slept for
some time. Lying in front of the fire were the three school friends, not a puppy in sight.
Grizelda was curled up on her favourite chair looking every inch the Bad Witch, and was
snoring like a bear. Uncle Tom carried the three girls up the stairs and tucked them all into
bed. He went back down, and put a blanket over Grizelda. “I am going to give her such a
ticking off tomorrow,” thought Tom. He made himself a warm drink and put a cover on the
left-over chocolate cake. He thought he should throw it away, but he also liked the idea of
having one tiny piece. It would be fun to be a dog for a little while. With that he went to
bed.
Tom was woken by the sound of giggling children and the smell of a freshly cooked
breakfast.
He wandered downstairs and into the kitchen. The three girls were all laughing and smiling
and looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying themselves. Grizelda looked at Tom,
knowing that she was going to get a bad ticking off, but the three girls didn’t give him a
chance. Straight away they started telling him how wonderful the day had been and how
brilliant a witch Grizelda was. Eventually Uncle Tom agreed that it had been fun. Then he
admitted that he would like to try a little piece of the cake himself.
“Oh! “ Grizelda said, “I could certainly bake another.”
“What do you mean, bake another?” asked Uncle Tom. “I saved half the cake last night.”
Uncle Tom lifted the cover but the cake was gone.
“GRIZELDA!” growled Uncle Tom, but it was too late.
Four excited dogs sat wagging their tales, expectantly waiting for walkies!

The End

I also write a blog and more of these stories which can be found athttp://abedtimestoryforchildren.com/

I hope you enjoyed but please feel free to leave constructive critisicism.

[cafolini]

This was special. Maybe some editor could help a little. However, I liked it the way it was. Nice story for children.

[SpinkyLala]

Thankyou

[MaryCanary]

I found this very humourous (even as an adult). Well done. I also looked at your blog and I thought it was very funny but also very heartfelt. It is a fantastic blog, one of the best I have read. Keep writing!