A WITCH WHO LOOKED LIKE A PRINCESS

 If you don't already know this, Anaya's story got published in a book 'Bright Feathers in the Sky'. If you haven't read it yet, here it is...

A WITCH WHO LOOKED LIKE A PRINCESS

“What do witches eat in the sand?” asked Ruby to her classmates. She was telling a joke but no one was interested. She waited for a while and answered giggling “A SANDWICH!” No one laughed at her joke and walked passed her in the school corridor. Ruby loved telling jokes very much. But nobody liked her. Ruby was different from the other witches. She was polite and funny. Unlike others, she was not scary. She even looked different. You see, she didn’t like witch clothes. She loved wearing gowns and sparkly shoes. She hated black hats. She looked like a princess rather than a witch. At Witch School where she was studying, others teased her all the time. She didn’t have any friends. No one wanted to be friends with a witch who was like a princess. She came back from school looking gloomy. Her mother asked her about her day. Ruby told her about the incident. She asked her mother “Mommy, is it so bad to be different?” Her mother told her “No sweety, everyone is unique in their own way. Never feel bad about being different”. She felt a little better with her mother’s words. She changed and went to play in the garden with her cute brown puppy, Fluffy.

Next day she went to school wearing a pink gown. Everyone looked at her in disbelief and started teasing her. She felt very sad and lonely. That day during recess there came a gang of bully witches. They pushed Ruby and said “You are a fake witch.” “You cannot even do proper witch magic.” Ruby said bravely “I don’t have to be good at everything what other witches do”. When she got home, she told her parents about what had happened at dinner table. Again her parents said “Dear Ruby, do not pay attention to such witches. Just concentrate on your studies and you will surely make some friends soon”. But Ruby was not satisfied .She wanted to be liked by others. She decided to change herself and act like other witches.

Next day, Ruby went to school dressed like a witch. This time, no one teased her. Ruby felt pleased. But afterwards when she couldn’t do well in ‘Scary Class’ where they had to learn to scare humans, they started laughing and teasing her again. At lunch break, she asked other witches to play with her but they refused. She thought she would continue to behave like others and soon witches would play with her.

Sometime later, there came an invitation. It said “Ruby, please come for my birthday party at the treehouse near the witch park on this Saturday. From- Lucy” Ruby was overjoyed. She had finally found a friend. On Saturday, she wore her best pink gown, put on her silver shoes and wore a sparkly red hairband. She took her gift and started walking to the treehouse. She climbed up the treehouse but no one was there. She sat there waiting. But even after an hour, no one came. She understood that this was a prank. She got very unhappy and tears rolled down her eyes. She stared going back to her house. While was walking, she heard a noise. “Why are you so sad?” asked the voice. Ruby turned to see a witch. She was wearing a blue frock and looked kind and sweet. She said “Hi, I am Rosy. I just moved here a couple of days ago.” Ruby said wiping away her tears “Hello, I am Ruby. I was invited for a party but no one was there. They played a prank on me. No one likes me because I am not like them.”

Rosy said “Even I have no friends and you look so pretty and nice. Can we be friends?” Ruby felt delighted. Rosy and Ruby became friends. They had a playdate on Sunday and had lots of fun.

On Monday, when Ruby went to school happily wearing her gown, other witches came to her and said laughingly “Ha ha ha, we played a prank on you! The party was on the moon and not at the treehouse. You can never be our friend.” Ruby replied “Even I don’t want to be friends with such mean witches like you. I was wrong in trying to change myself. I would never want to be like you. I am different and I am not ashamed of it.” Ruby was now a happy girl who likes herself the way she was.

                                    - ANAYA SHETH