I have a tale for you and there is more.
Dear little children,
please gather 'round. Bring you a pillow and come and sit down"; the old lady said.
It was Wednesday afternoon. The schools were closed and it was her turn to read a story. The children fought to sit as close as possible near her to hear her story. The old lady was famous for her stories and if she was present, stepped out of the shadow, no one said a word till the last word was spoken.
It was a long time ago as this happened.
Long before "once upon a time" but it was at a time the time was changed. People did no longer exist. It was just me, the old Hokus Pokus guy who enjoyed his retirement and... my children.
Actually, they did not exist in our world. As time changed the world changed. It was torn apart in pieces and those pieces were flung into the air. The air some call space and others another dimension.
The old man and I lived in a different world and so did our children. Time did not age us any longer. A good thing for me. As you can see I am already old enough.
One day as I woke up I saw a face right above me.
My eyes sprang wide. The woman's dark brown face was very close and she just stared at me. Perhaps it was her way to wake me up? She smelled like a wild animal, not like my sweet wolves, but still wild. I told her to sit down and pointed at the chair as I climbed out of bed and made the fire.
The only thing she did was staring at me.
I gave her a cup of tea and after she drank it she said:
"They will come for you, they are on their way. Their world came to an end. They need a new place to stay."
I did not ask where she came from or answered but waited for her to explain more but she kept silent and so did I. I love the peace.
"Will you help them?"
She shoved a bag of groceries towards me. I had not noticed it earlier.
"All you need is in there and a little extra."
The bag was filled with herbs, mushrooms, smaller and bigger pots with extracts and ingredients no longer available unless you were an initiate in the arts. I knew what to use them for and nodded.
As I looked up she was gone.
It was time to get at work.
The water above the fire was warm and they would come soon. They came to conquer my world. It was the last thing on my earth I would allow. I loved my world, my peace.
As they knocked on my door it flung open and a green cloud welcomed them. It was strong enough to catch all of them and change their point of view. The wolves took care of them. They had a good bite for some days.
"They did not take care of all of them", a voice interrupted the old lady. "You forgot me!"
"It is the rat, the rat talks!" a little boy screamed.
He held the rat at its tail up in the air.
"Rat does not get old", another child said.
It came closer and observed the rat for a while.
"This one is really ugly."
"Put me down you a little piece of shit and don't you dare to call me a rat!"
"Forget it. I will keep you on my science project."
"You better do it in here", the old lady said. "I did not finish the story yet."
She held a jar underneath the rat that suddenly looked as frozen. The boy dropped the rat in it and the jar was closed.
After the invasion was over old Hokus Pokus contacted me.
He said he needed my help. A rat and her followers were after a book. Not just a book but one of the magic books. A book that my daughter should guard with her life and my son? My son was the one who changed the thief into a... rat.
This is my entry to the #weekendfreewrite of Saturday, October 26, 2019, hosted by @mariannewest.
What happened before or... after?
The story of the old man
Hokus pokusThe story of the rat
DollyAsking for help.
The solutionCircumstances alter cases
On the road.
I wrote several tips to help you.
See Tip 30: Commentcoin (cc) for more information about Commentcoin and it's tag (#cc).