Long ago, witches were wise women who created remedies from natural materials like plants and salt. This is exactly what happened to Eefa and Luella during that time. They used natural remedies to create potions to give to people who are mortally sick or wounded, and they live with their extended family in a large cave in nature. I live in this family, obviously, but my other family members are Luke, Resus, Cleo, Six, Bluey, Bingo, Muffin, Socks, Mr Watson, Mrs Watson, Alston and Bella Negative, Niles, Bandit, Chilli, Uncle Stripe, Aunt Trixie, Dr F and Nana. We were all naked - save for Dr F, Mike and Nana, they wear glasses - and although Eefa worked hard for her living, we had no shame in living our lives freely with nature. While us kids played in the freedom of the countryside, the adults worked hard to cook, arrange our baths and gather the natural materials needed to create those potions for people who come to our cave.
Luella was always sent out into a flower field to collect rose petals for her aunt, so she could mix them into potions to give out to people in the village who come to visit far off. I love my extended family, and always turn to my big siblings for comfort, and they always played with me. We were at one with nature, and we always cared for it, making it part of our daily lives. Although people never live out in nature like they did in the stone age, we certainly live like it, we’re a tribe and we never had any place like it.
One day, the adults were resting on top of a large grassy hill. Luke, Resus, Cleo, Luella, Six, Bluey, Bingo, Muffin, Socks and I were rolling down the hill, free and happy. “Wheeeeeeeeeee!!” We laughed and squealed as the world spun round and our eyesight went dizzy as we rolled and rolled downhill. Eefa, watching, laughed to see us having loads of fun. Once we landed at the bottom, we all started laughing. All except Luella, who sighed. “What’s up, Luella? You’re not laughing.” I said. “I’ve been, like, having nightmares about demons carrying me off to Hell. I mean, I’ve been very good, but what’s the point of having demons eat you in your sleep? We have excellent freedom, and we roam like creatures.” I lay back in the grass. “Luella, those demons are just a figment of your imagination.” “Yeah,” said Bluey, “Nothing could disrupt your fun. After all, you are with us.” “Come on, Luella, nightmares are stupid. You know they are.” said Six. We all lay back in the grass and sighed. The fresh air filled our nostrils as we snuggled close and listened to the sounds of nature.
Later, it was lunchtime. We caught fish and hunted for goat meat and cooked them over a fire. It was such a lovely feast, we even had milk which we got from the cows grazing in a field somewhere in the countryside. While we were all eating, Luella told Eefa about her nightmare. “Those nightmarish demons will, like, take me to Hell someday. I mean, I’ve been good, but why should these hellish demons enter my nightmares?” “When you reach a certain age, demons come to haunt you. Unless I perform the rite on you, those demons cannot be tamed.” Eefa informed. “What rite?” “Tonight, we will perform a ritual that’ll seal the demons away in their own realm. Of course, your sister Violet has to be involved too.” “Me?” I said, almost choking on my piece of goat meat. Everyone began staring at me. “Yes, you.” said Muffin in an unusually low voice. Muffin was usually screamy and loud, but not this time. Everyone was looking. “Alright, fine, I’ll partake in this ritual.” I said.
Later, we worked off all the food we ate with a swim in the lake. I love swimming in the lake, even though it was very cold - we splashed each other and divebombed and lay back in the water to relax. Even the adults joined in, and Bandit couldn’t stop splashing Chilli, then Bluey and Bingo - well, they are the crazy family after all. I looked over the rocks and saw Luella by herself picking rose petals in the nearby field. I felt sorry for her then. Those demons must have been haunting her since she turned 9, why should Eefa perform the rite on me? Have I been seeing demons too? I decided to ignore it, and helped Socks learn to swim. “Arf! Arf!” barked Socks. She loved it when people helped her learn to swim. “That’s it, Socks, you’re doggy paddling!” laughed Bingo. Then suddenly, I heard Luella’s voice calling. “Sybil!” I swam up to her and my worry came back. “Have you been searching for rose petals?” I said. “Yep,” said Luella, “Aunt Eefa asked me to fetch them for the rite tonight.” “Yeah, well, apart from that,” I said, “I think I might have been seeing demons too.” “Are you faking it?” “No, I’m not. I keep having nightmares of people with huge black eyes and red, inflamed skin eating me for breakfast.” “Those are the demons I saw in my nightmare!” Luella gasped. “OMG, you’ve been having the same nightmares as me!” “Then this is why we need to perform this ritual.” I said, hugging Luella, “We need to do it together, just me and you. “Now, care for a dip?” Luella looked at the river. Then Eefa appeared in a puff of smoke on the banks of the lake. “You go ahead Luella, I’ll keep guard of the rose petals.” “Yay!” cried Luella, and she dived into the water to join us in playing in the water.
Later, it was time for bed, and that was when the ritual started. It was just me, Luella and Eefa, the rest of the family were somewhere in the middle of cave having dinner. The smell of cooked goat’s meat and fish filled the air as Eefa got the ritual items ready - a bowl of black ink, a basketful of rose petals and another bowl filled with fresh, clean water. Luella and I squeezed each other’s hands tight as Eefa got the black ink. She covered our skin with the smooth, black substance, feeling soothed by the ink all over our bodies. It dripped down our legs and formed puddles around our bare feet. “Now, girls, this ink represents the darkness that is the demons in your nightmares. But luckily, the natural items I’m about to use may well defeat the intruders of the underworld forever.” Eefa took the basket of rose petals, and a light wind blew through the cave. She held out some rose petals, and they flew all around us. “Oh, my dear ancestors, hear me now,” chanted Eefa quietly, “Vanquish those demons back to the underworld!” Luella and I were already giggling feeling the petals stick to the black ink. She took the bowl of water and held it over Luella, calling out, “With the power of the gentleness of nature…” Luella squealed as water was poured all over her, washing away the ink and petals. “...may these demons never haunt our children again!” It was my turn to scream as water was poured all over me. Eefa laughed along with us. “There. It didn’t hurt a bit, did it?”
But Luella and I were already yawning. Chilli looked over to us. “Looks like bedtime is here already. Oh well, a flower ritual did you good.” She had been watching this entire time and knew every single detail about Eefa’s rituals. Eefa used the rest of the water to put out the fire, and lead all the family to our comfortable bed, made out of the wool of the sheep in the countryside. Luella and I fell asleep straight away, freed from our nightmarish demons. “Ah, sleeping like babies.” cooed Eefa. She kissed us both goodnight and snuggled down on our sheep’s wool bed.
The next day, as us kids ran out to play, Luella and I felt more refreshed than ever. “So, did the rite work?” asked Luke. “Actually, it did,” said Luella, “I feel great - especially after these demons stopped plaguing my dreams.” “I do too - those horrible black-eyed inflamed people never want to haunt me ever again.” “Hooray!” cried Bluey, Bingo and Muffin. “Ruff-ruff!” smiled Socks. “Looks like someone’s carried the demons back to hell,” said Cleo, “I think you did well sleeping last night, especially when we all fell asleep too.” “At least, yes, but happiness comes from our home and not from our dreams. Okay, sometimes they do.” I reminded everyone.
We ran up to the top of the hill and rolled down it multiple times throughout the rest of the day, then relaxed in the soft grass. With Luella’s demons gone, and mine gone too, we lived our happy lives with our family once again, and forever through this time we claimed this valley and its nature as our own.
THE END.
I absolutely love my werewolf brother. His name is Luke, and I would like to tell you all about him. He’s so cuddly and handsome, but on the plus side, whenever he gets angry, he transforms into a werewolf. He doesn’t do that at times, because he’s chilled out when he’s with me. Whenever I’m in danger, that happens. But Luke and I along with Resus and Cleo do everything together, whether inside or out. My brother loves me so much there’s no one else he’d rather love - apart from his mum and dad of course, because they’re his closest relatives. He also loves the rest of the family too, I mustn’t forget. The one person he truly loves is me - he’s a true big brother to me.
However, when I’m at school, I miss him dearly, but I spend time playing with Bluey and her friends while he does all the tests and exams under Dr Skulley’s stern gaze. When the older buddies arrive to play with us little kids, that’s when the fun starts. You remember when Bluey and Mackenzie played with Mia and Captain, right? Well, for me, my older buddy is my own dear brother Luke. We’d race together downhill and hide in the trees, cuddling and snuggling, and sometimes he would lift me over his body as I squealed with laughter. The other kids would be jealous - well, except for Indy and Winston, because they both have Resus and Cleo - because I’m hanging out with someone who I love dearly. Ask Mackenzie, he’s sure to respond with, “He’s part of her family?!”
At home, Luke knows how to play our games with perfection. Our favourite game to play together is Firemen & Princesses. Luke and Resus would be the brave firemen (they have a dalmatian stuffed toy to play their fire dog), and Cleo and I would be the damsels in distress. We didn’t play that in a tall building of course, because it would be too dangerous, so instead we used the trampoline. Cleo and I would dramatically cry for help, then our brave firemen would come to our rescue. I would squeal with laughter as Luke carried me off the trampoline, me over his shoulder. Luke would tell me that a dragon had set fire to the castle, and the king did the right thing to call 999. These days, British people have become American, and we hear the number ‘911’ being mentioned on the TV a lot. 999 is better for British emergency situations, and it’s a good thing we have a first aid kit.
I was far too little to make a sandwich by himself, so whenever Luke makes a sandwich as a snack from the kitchen, he would make a cheese sandwich for me. He was very good at spreading the butter on the bread and cutting the cheese, placing it on the butter side of the bread. He would even pour a nice cool glass of milk for me, as he knew dairy gives me strong bones and teeth. I don’t know whatever causes the bones in our teeth to develop calcium, but Luke tells me they’re little unicorns who develop muscles whenever a calcium-enriched food is eaten. I tried hard not to laugh, as I might:
1.Swallow my food the wrong way.
2.Spit my milk out through my nose.
When Resus did make a sarcastic comment while Luke was drinking, Luke would spit out whatever he was drinking. Either milk or water and mucus would shoot everywhere. I would cry “Eeeeewww!” and laugh. Luckily, I was kind enough to give Luke a paper towel so he could wipe his nose, and I would use another paper towel to clean the table. I’ve tried not to come near him during these times, in case he produced germs.
Violet….
Whenever I felt ill, Luke would tuck me into bed and say reassuring things to me, reading me stories and singing lullabies in his softest voice. One of my favourite made up stories he told me was about his werewolf superhero alter-ego Super Wolf. Luke and I don’t watch a lot of Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon. They used to be good, but now they show superhero comedies, and THEY. MAKE. NO. SENSE! This is when Super Wolf comes in. He’s a version of Luke’s werewolf who wears only a red cape and underpants, and fights evil by the light of the full moon. Whenever his opponent is beaten, he’d howl at the moon as a way of telling the world another day was saved. Once, he told me how Super Wolf shrank himself and went into my nose to fight off the evil Germ Rabbit who was making my cold worse. When I was better, Luke and I drew the Germ Rabbit together. He was an ugly, snotty green rabbit who looked a lot like a zombie, with droopy ears and eyes that pop out.
Hello? Violet…
At the park, we’d always play basketball together with the little kids. Bingo and her friends Lila, Chucky, Missy and Sadie would join in too, as they loved a good game with us. Luke was a good basketball player, he would slam dunk any ball using his werewolf claws, and sometimes he’d help the little kids slam dunk the ball too. Chucky plays basketball with his dad and his big brother Lucky, so he’s experienced at this even though he is four. Luke would lift Chucky up and he would throw the ball through the net. Sometimes, the little kids and I would playfully attack Luke, tickling him and chasing him out of the basketball court, all the way around the park.
VIOLET!
Resus? Why did you have to disrupt?
You’re forgetting about me. There isn’t just one brother in the house, you know.
Oh. I forgot.
Mum says you have to tell everyone about me, too. You have two brothers, not one!
Thanks, Resus. Now, I also want to tell you about Resus. He’s a vampire, but he’s desperately trying to be one. He has blonde hair, but he spraypaints it black. He has clip on fangs and pale, sensitive skin. He and Luke are loads of fun.Whenever it’s the weekend, we’d race around the garden, with my brothers giving me rides on their shoulders. When Luke gives me a ride on his shoulders, he would sing ‘Horsey Horsey’ and pretend to be a horse’s cowboy, making neighing and swishing sounds as if he had a long tail. When Resus gave me rides on his shoulders, he would wobble for a minute, then pretend to collapse to the ground, feeling I’m too heavy. Of course, we’d both laugh and laugh until we couldn’t take it any more. When I played fetch with Dig, Resus would always race him to see who would get the stick first. Dig would always win obviously, but whenever Resus lost he would just completely ignore that fact and run to me for a great big hug. I adore it when Resus hugs me. “Isn’t that a charming sight,” Resus’ father Alston would always say, “Big brother hugging little sister.” And a big brother he is to me.
When it is a rainy day, the TV is off and Luke and Cleo are asleep on the sofa, Resus and I would sit in front of the glass window and peacefully count all the raindrops that fall outside. I would get so sleepy counting, “1…2…3…4…” I would snuggle up next to Resus and fall asleep as Resus whispered out the number of raindrops into my ear. When I woke up, Bella would serve me a cool glass of milk and Resus a warm mug of cocoa. We’d enjoy our drinks and this peaceful rainy day. When it is the aftermath of a peaceful rainy day, we’d put on our coats and boots and run outside to splash in puddles. We’d be squealing in joy as we splashed up and down, and even splashed each other.
When it’s bathtime, I would watch as Resus cared for his sensitive skin with dermatologically tested products, then we’d both relax, with me in Resus’ arms. We’d kick our legs and watch them splash in the water, and when I felt lazy I would boop Resus on the nose, and he would boop me back. When we’re getting dry, we’d hide under towels and try to find each other. Resus has played this game with me ever since I was a baby. He would crawl around calling “Cheep-cheep-cheeeeep?” and then lift up the towel to reveal me as I squealed and clapped and fell into his arms. I so enjoyed it, Resus even gave it a name: “Cheep Cheep Towel”.
Sometimes I would listen from upstairs as Resus and Luke watched the State Of Origin game with the Heelers, Lucky’s family and their parents. I would hear them both cheering and high-fiving, then they would run upstairs with Bandit, who was painted amusingly yellow and green, and hug me in between them-
Finally, it’s about time you let me in on the action.
Luke?
Yep, it’s me. It’s all true. Everything you said to everyone out there is true. Even though I am a werewolf, I do all these things with you.
And as for me, I do all these things with you, too.
Good, good, but there’s no need to get into an argument! I think you are both perfect, and I love you just the way you are.
Thanks, Vi.
Yeah, thanks.
I love my brothers…
And we love her!