Prompt: Is cranberry sauce supposed to taste like this?
Special Challenge: Include a zebra without making it part of the meal
Wishing all Americans a very happy Thanksgiving! May your turkey be scrumptious and your mashed potatoes be smooth.
"Is cranberry sauce supposed to taste like this?" Hetty whipped around to find her nephew chewing on a beet, purple juice smeared all over his chubby cheeks and dripping onto her freshly cleaned counter.
“No, no, no, Freddie, those are beets. Go play outside until the food is ready, ok?”
“But I’m hungry!” Freddie whined, chomped up beet still sloshing around his mouth.
“Shoo! It won’t be done any faster if you’re bothering Auntie!”
She sighed as the little nymph made a face, spat out the remains of the beet onto the counter, then sulked out the door. What had she been thinking when she invited her sister’s family over for Feast Day? Straightening her apron over her petal skirt, Hetty turned her attention to the turkey roasting in the oven. At least, it was supposed to be roasting. It looked limp and unappetizing, just like the withered carrots, wilted lettuce, and lumpy mashed potatoes.
“Someday I am going to put a restraining spell on Matilda’s ogre!” Hetty mumbled as she poked her head into the oven to check on the bird. “Just as soon as I learn how.”
Hetty could not wait until she had her pixie license. Not only would she have the ability to cross over to the human world where all the cool parties were, she’d be able to take care of that nasty pet ogre her neighbour owned once and for all, and plant the perfect vegetable garden she always dreamed of having. That ogre always managed to smash her garden to bits.
Stepping back from the oven, Hetty surveyed her hard work with dissatisfaction. She couldn’t serve her family this!
“What this calls for is a little magic!” she decided. Pulling over a stool, she crawled up onto it and reached into the top cupboard where she kept her wand. Her instructor had very clearly stated that the wand should only be used in class, but this was an emergency. Wand in hand, she faced her flaccid feast once again with a determination that would rival a cat after a fish.
“Sparkles, gleams, an untasty feast
Twinkles, shimmers, be edible eats!”
She sang in a clear soprano as she waved her wand around. Glitter encased the poor vegetables, turning them into healthful looking stalks. Hetty squealed with delight.
“And now for the turkey!” Hetty rolled up her sleeves, concentrating very hard on her spell.
“Sparkles, gleams, a yucky turkey
Twinkles, shimmers, be roasted birdie!”
The same glitter snaked its way from her wand to the oven, glowing as it spread across the bird. It started to blacken, then grew. And grew. Hetty watched in amazement as it spilled onto the floor and began to take shape. Then she was horrified! Dropping her wand, she raised dainty hands to her flushed cheeks and fled from the kitchen straight into the chest of her brother-in-law!
“It smells great in here, sis!” he exclaimed. Then he saw it. “Um, Het? What’s a zebra doing in your kitchen?”
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