Free Awesome Blossoms: Horn OK Please by Kartik Iyengar

of it. She brimmed up with rage and curiosity. Who was the one who had dared to insult her, defy the laws set by her and gain power? The witch followed the trail that Alice’s had power had left behind and in no time she was flying over the village sitting on her broomstick.
    In the village, the sky changed colors. It looked as if black velvet had covered the white pearls, the stars in the sky. The sky churned and announced the fury of the approaching storm. Suddenly, the sky was filled with an evil cackle. Everybody got out of their houses. Everyone, including Alice. Something black swooped on the ground. It landed with a soft thud. The witch had arrived.
    She spewed out words, as malignant as venom, “Who is the one who has the guts to defy me? Who is the one who attains po wer from following one’s passion?’ Not a single person replied. Annoyed, the witch pointed her crooked finger towards a pile of wood and a fire sparkled up to life. The witch examined all the faces in the light of the fire. She enjoyed what she saw – fear on their faces and terror in their eyes. She looked around with an evil grin on her face, satisfied with her achievement. But one small face stared back at her straight into her slimy yellow eyes. That face was resplendent with courage. Her eyes shone with confidence as they sent forth a warning signal to the witch, “Don’t you dare mess with me. I have my family and my friends right by my side. There is no way you can bring harm to us!” Those were Alice’s eyes.
    ‘You, there!” croaked the witch. “Where do you get your vain courage from? Tell me, do you have a passion close to your heart from where you derive your strength?” she asked Alice out of c uriosity. Alice replied with her inner calm, “Yes, I love reading, so what? Nobody can ever take my story books away from me because they are a part of me.” “Well then, stop it! Otherwise great evil will befall you. Do not ignore my laws! You have no right to!” said the witch, her voice shaking with ire that made her rough voice sound even more unbearable. She could feel Alice’s power.
    At the same time, Alice had no intention of doing that. In fact, the poor child was not even aware of the fact that she had some special powers within her that burgeoned day by day Instead of replying or apologizing, as the witch had expected, she just looked at the witch in anger, her eyes full of determination which clearly meant ”No”. The witch looked at her scornfully and vanished as suddenly as she had arrived, in a red cloud.
    Everyone looked at Alice and assured her that no harm would come to her as long as they were there, ‘together’. So, Alice went back to her room and went under the covers in her cozy bedroom. The next day, she woke up a little late than her normal time wo ndering if the happenings of the previous night were just a nightmare. She could not hear any sound. No birds chirped, no children screamed and no aroma floated in the air. She went downstairs, scared, and called out to her parents “Mom! Dad! Where are you?” She looked around but neither could she see her mother cooking in the kitchen nor her father puffing his pipe while reading the newspaper, perched on his favorite armchair. She ran out of the house, calling out to her friends. No one replied. She ran around in panic and soon she reached the massive oak gate that marked the entrance of her village. Outside, she heard a muffled gurgling sound.
    She stepped outside slowly. What she saw made her go weak in the knees. It made her want to cry and run away as fast as she can.  Her parents, friends and other villagers were tied to stakes. They all looked like zombies, with white eyes and yellowish skin, and open mouths. All of them were drooling. It reminded her of the picture of zombies t hat she had seen in one of her storybooks. Next to them, there was a small pile of unused stakes. Alice stared at them helplessly, not knowing what she should do with them