The enchanted forest

ONCE upon a time, there lived two sisters named Joyce and Martha. They lived with their mother and stepfather in a little cottage by a forest. It is a cosy little house surrounded by beautiful wild flowers..

Joyce and Martha loved to look at the colourful flowers and butterflies in their garden. They loved to play there. They imagined they were living in an enchanted forest.

Their stepfather was a mean and unloving person. He often scolded them for no reason. This made them very sad.

Their mother loved them very much. One day, while they were walking in their ‘enchanted’ forest, Martha said, “I feel so sad. Dad scolded us for something we didn’t do.” Joyce agreed.

As the two sisters were exploring the forest, suddenly Joyce exclaimed, “Look, Martha! There is a cave over there.”

They looked at each other with curiosity and excitement.

They didn’t remember seeing the cave there before. They entered the cave. At

first it was very dark, but then the cave slowly lit up. In the cave, they saw a bright golden glow shaped like a butterfly. It seemed like the glow was beckoning them to come closer. They were frightened and excited at the same time.

They held on to each other’s hands and took bold steps towards the light.

As they went closer to the light, they were magically transported to a land that was filled with fairies fluttering about. They had sparkly wings and as they flew, they left trails of fairy dust that fell from their wings. There were dwarfs building a castle out of candy mushroom.

There was also an enormous chocolate fountain, and everyone could taste the chocolate. After walking awhile, they came upon a little fairy who was sitting on a petal of a beautiful blue lily.

They asked, “Who are you?” “I am Annie. Welcome to my garden, dear Joyce and Martha!

“How may I help you?” Annie asked.

They told her about their stepfather.

She said “I know a spell that would do the trick. Why don’t you take me along to your house so that I may help you?”.

They agreed and took Annie home. Their stepfather was fast asleep. As Annie saw him, she gasped and said,

“Oh no! He is under a curse from the mean Swamp Goblin. Maybe the goblin cast the spell when your father walked pass the swamp. I have a magical fairy dust which can undo the mean spell.

“When your stepfather wakes up, he shall be his kinder self again.” The girls said “Well, that explains why he is always mean. He’s been under a curse!”

When their stepfather woke up, he looked at them with a loving smile. Joyce and Martha were delighted.

The girls explained everything to him. When he realised that he had been under a curse, he apologised to the girls for being so mean to them.

They accepted his apology and asked Annie if they could visit the magical land.

Annie said “Of course you can! I would love to have you over some day.”

And so, they lived happily ever after. – By Aliyah Aqilah Mohsein, 10.

Aliyah Aqilah, 10, wins the Creative Writing prize for the month of May. She walks away with Dotty Detective #6 The Holiday Mystery by Clara Vulliamy (RM34.60) and Dance Trilogy #3 Showtime by Jean Ure (RM39.60), courtesy of MPH Distributors.

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