Linda the Witch Makes a Switch

Linda the Witch was mixing a potion late one night when the moon was full. It was a very simple potion for turning water into grape juice. The potion had only a few ingredients, but one of them was the legs of a frog. As Linda discovered when she checked her cupboard, she was all out of frog legs. She would have to go to the store to re-fill her supply.

Linda grabbed her cloak, her hat, and her broomstick as she prepared for her journey to the store. She normally did not like to fly so late at night because it was dark out, but since the moon was especially full that night she was still able to see. As she left the house, she saw the moon shining on a friendly looking frog right in the middle of the walkway. If someone was not paying close attention as they walked by, they might accidentally step on the little guy! Before starting her journey to the store, she walked over to the frog, picked him up carefully, and set him back down on the side of the road. The frog ribbot-ed a friendly thank you in response.

When Linda was at the store, she went straight for the aisle that sold the frog legs, but when she saw them a funny thing happened. She noticed that these frog legs looked just the same as the frog legs of her new little friend from the walking path. How strange it felt to save a happy little frog in the road and then purchase the legs of some of it’s less fortunate friends from the store shortly after. Linda had never made the connection between the happy little frogs outside of her home and the pickled frog legs floating in jars at the store. She decided she would not be purchasing frog legs. When Linda got home, her new froggy friend was still perched on the side of the road and looked at her as if he knew the decision Linda had made at the store. He ribbot-ed a friendly thank you in response.

The next day, Linda got up early and looked and looked through her cupboards and potion books. For the first time, she made a connection to some of the animals she enjoyed in real life to the animal parts used in her potions. She had always taken comfort in the wise owl who lived just outside her window. She loved seeing the beautiful webs spun by the spindly spider around her home. Yet some of her potions called for things like the feather of an owl and the legs of a spider. Didn’t the owl need it’s feathers to fly? Didn’t the spider need it’s legs to spin all those intricate webs?

This would not do. Linda decided to go through her cupboards and get rid of all of the items that belonged to the creatures she adored. The eye of a newt, the wart of a toad, and the lucky rabbit foot all went straight to the trash bin. She would start to be more considerate of the creatures these items had been separated from.

  This was a tricky decision for Linda to make, as she still wanted to make her potions. She decided to head to the library to do some research on ingredients she could use rather than the things which harmed her friends.  After a whole afternoon at the library, Linda came home with so many books she could hardly fly. She continued to read these books for the next several days until she had a better idea of magical ingredients she could use that would be more friendly to the creatures around her. Cactus spines instead of porcupine quills, peace lily petals instead of dove feathers, tulip bulbs instead of the heart of a pig. Making this switch was easier than she thought it was going to be once she put in the effort to find alternatives!

The one thing Linda had not yet find an alternative for was frog legs. She would need to find one if she wanted make her potion to turn water into grape juice. It was her favorite potion to mix because it was so fun to watch the clear water start to fizz and bubble with a light purple froth until the mixture settled down and the cauldron was full of a delicious, beautiful, dark purple liquid.

  Linda looked through her library books and her newly stocked cupboards but could not find anything that would work. She was so frustrated that she could not find something to finish her potion. Linda needed a break and decided to go for a walk. As she walked through her yard, she noticed her little froggy friend sitting somewhere she had not seen him before. He was sitting on a log near a patch of huge, colorful, wild mushrooms. Linda stopped in her tracks. “That could work,” she thought to herself.

Linda quickly gathered several mushrooms and took them inside. She had to try the potion a few different times to get the right consistency. After several attempts, and a few messes to clean, she finally had it! The potion was as perfectly purple as she had ever seen it. She decided to scoop herself a glass of grape juice and go outside to celebrate. She sat next to the frog and said “Cheers!” before taking her first sip. It was the most magical grape juice she had ever tasted.