Mildred & The Kittens

One day, in the school playground, Mildred heard some mewing coming from the shed. The mewing was little and squeaky, and it certainly wasn't Mildred's cat, that's for sure. Maybe she ran away after Mildred got a new look. It was lucky that the keys to the shed were hung up near the door, because when Mildred unlocked the door of the shed, she couldn't believe her eyes: there on the bales of hay was one of the students' cats - and she had kittens! Three squirmy black furred kittens, suckling from their mother. Mildred didn't notice until a student named Amy came rushing in, squealing with delight. "Anne!" she said, "You've got kittens! I'm so proud of you, Annie-Wannie-Woo." "Annie-Wannie-Woo," mocked Mildred, sticking her tongue out. Just then, Luella came along. "I just heard Amy's kitten Anne had kittens - I'd like to have one to take back to Scream Street and show Luella." "NO!" shouted Mildred, "Amy would be upset if you took a kitten from Cackles', and then Mrs. Hardbroom would call the police and then we'd be locked up in jail." "So...what now?" asked Luella, cautiously. Mildred thought for a moment, and then had an idea. "I know," she said, "Why don't we take a train ride?"

So they took the next train to Lancashire by sneaking onto a carriage when no one was looking. The trip was all smooth sailing until Mildred heard some mewing from inside a crate. She and Luella lifted the lid, and saw....not kittens, not a cat, but a huge elephant! It grew to the most gigantic size the two witches could think about and burst out of the carriage, storming away and almost knocking the train off the tracks. "After that elephant!" shouted the witches, and they leapt onto Mildred's broomstick and flew right after the out-of-control elephant. When they finally reached him, Mildred took Luella's hand, leapt off the broomstick and landed safely on the elephant's back. "Stop! STOP!" cried Mildred, whapping the elephant on its back. "I don't think we can get it to calm down!" called Luella, "We need something like a duck whistle or something like that!" The elephant leapt off the tracks and rode across the path.

The elephant was coming closer towards Cackles' Academy! It bounded over the gates and into the playground, at once attracting the attention of every student in the school, and every teacher including Mrs. Hardbroom and Mrs. Cackle. "What the heck is that elephant doing here?!" ordered Mrs. Cackle as the elephant let out an uproarious cry which sent one student screaming and running back inside. Mildred looked around for a minute. Surely something must be done to turn the elephant into a kitten. Waving her hands, she said in a low, unsure voice:
"Diamond broaches and fluffy white mittens,
May you turn from elephant to kitten!"
At once, the elephant began to morph into a small cat, and at first Mildred and Luella were stuck in the air...but then they fell right on top of the cat, squashing her as a flat as a pancake. Mrs Hardbroom stormed up to the two witches. "Bringing wild animals into the school is against the rules," she said, "What makes you think you could do such a thing as bring an elephant into the school?" Mildred shamefully told Mrs Hardbroom what happened, but then she clapped eyes on Maud, who was giggling away at her and Luella's antics. "Mildred," she called, "This was so funny!" Soon, all the other students and Mrs Cackle started laughing away as the cat ran up to one student and nuzzled her legs tenderly. "Well, if a cat does his job right it's a job worth doing." said Mildred, winking.

And that's what you get when you see a litter of kittens at Cackles' Academy!

THE END.