Inside The Padlocked Chest

I sneaked up to an old abandoned house by the road. Inside I found an old padlocked chest. Stuck on the chest there was a note that said “DO NOT OPEN”. I found a key lying on the floor and when I tried it on the chest, I found that it was a perfect fit.

I dusted the box and then very carefully opened it. I gasped with pleasure at what I saw. A million rubies, diamonds and precious stones of all kinds shimmered and sparkled so brightly that they almost blinded me. The rest of the space inside the chest was filled with sparkling gold coins, crowns, necklaces, treasure maps and priceless treasures. But what caught my attention the most was a golden mirror whose frame had beautiful emeralds embedded within it, and an engraved message that mentioned how curiosity had killed the mouse. Mouse? Well, I had always thought that it was the cat. I mused, “I guess, the person who made the mirror was not very well-read!” Suddenly, there was a flash of bright light and the sound of thunder. When I opened my eyes, I was amazed by what I saw. The golden mirror had grown about 10 feet taller than me.

“How very strange!” I whispered.

But all of the amazement vanished as soon as I saw myself in the mirror. I had a long tail and my body was covered with black fur. I had two large front teeth and long white whiskers. Now I understood what had happened. The mirror had not grown bigger, I had become smaller! I had turned into a mouse!

“Oh my goodness!” I gasped.

“There is no need to worry,” said a voice from behind me.

I turned and saw the most peculiar mouse I had ever seen. It was white and wore thickly rimmed glasses and a long pointed wizard hat.

“What are you?” I asked the strange mouse.

“A mouse of course! Just like you. My name is Dr. Flitwick.”

“But you talk and have a name and you’re wearing a…….a…” I stammered.

“A wizard hat? Yes it’s my favorite. It’s the only one that fits me since I’ve changed.”

“Changed from what?”

“Changed from a human.”

“You mean to say that you too looked into the mirror and changed into a mouse?”

“Well, actually I made that mirror”

“You made that horrible mirror?”

“That mirror is not horrible! It only needs to be fixed a little, which I will do as soon as I turn human.”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“You are going to do it.”

“Me?”

“Yes, by reading a spell from page 52 of the Great curse breaking spell book.”

“If this spell works so well, why didn’t you use it to change yourself?” I asked suspiciously.

“The spell only works when someone brave says it. The spell obviously didn’t work for me as I’m not very brave.”

“I don’t understand why you made this cursed mirror in the first place.”

“So that I could master the art of shape shifting,” he said dreamily.

“The art of shape shifting?”

“Yes, I was very interested in it, and I had almost accomplished making the world’s first mirror that can make anyone change shape by using my scientific and magical knowledge.”

“Wait! You were a wizard and a scientist?”

“Yes, I like multi-tasking,” he said proudly. “So as I was saying, I had almost accomplished my goal but then the mirror turned me into a tiny mouse,” he said, wiping a tear from his eye.

“So, where is this spell book you were talking about?” I asked, changing the subject.

“Oh I’ll show you! Follow me!” he said, springing away. I followed the wizard –scientist for a long time until we reached a huge staircase, with every step as tall as Mt Everest.

“Are we going to climb that?” I asked.

“Of course.”

“But that will take forever!” I said, astonished.

“You can choose to stay a mouse for your whole life or choose to do a little bit of exercise for the next five minutes. It’s your choice.”

“I choose to exercise!”

“Then follow me,” he said and we both started clambering what seemed like 50 mountains.

By the time we reached, an hour had already passed, and I had never in my life felt this tired.

The book was really old and ancient. The cover was designed like a tree bark with big bold letters written over it, The Great Curse Breaking Spell Book. The pages had all yellowed, due to age.

It took us another 15 minutes to open the huge book .Finally, after a lot of struggle, we managed to open the book to the 52^nd page and it read…

 Mirror Curse Breaking Spell

WARNING!

“Ikity, Pikity, pickle.

This spell might just tickle!”

“What kind of a warning is that?” I asked, curiously.

“Only one way to find out, try it!” He said enthusiastically.

I nodded and read,

“I ask forgiveness from the lord,

For being a very curious mouse;

I promise not to poke my nose,

In someone else’s house;

Forgive me! Forgive me!

For being a curious mouse!”

As soon as I finished reading the spell, there was a flash of light and then I had the strangest feeling.

I felt like a thousand feathers were brushing over my skin. I laughed till tears starting streaming down my eyes. When the tickling finally stopped and I opened my eyes, I immediately checked to see whether I was still human and I was glad to see my skin fur-free, no huge front teeth and no long pink tail.

I turned to search for the scientist-wizard, but the room was completely empty.

“Dr Flitwick?” I called.

“Yes I’m here,” said a familiar squeaky voice and then a thin, tall man whose  age I estimated to be about 50 came from behind the book shelf. He wore the same wizard hat and thickly rimmed glasses except that they had grown to fit him.

“Well then, my mother must be waiting for me,” I said

“Wait! I have something to give you for your bravery!” He said and rushed towards the table where the spell books were kept. He searched through the pile and finally removed a bright orange book.

“This is for you,” he said, giving me the book. Printed over the top of the book was A Beginners Guide To Magical Spells.

“You think I can become a witch?” I asked.

“With a little practice, you can.”

“Thank you so much, and I hope you succeed in making that shape shifting mirror. You are a very intelligent man,” I said.

“And you are a very brave girl.” After that, I ran out of the abandoned house deciding in my mind that I would never in my life ever dismiss a mouse as just a mouse because he could be wizard in disguise, waiting for a brave girl to break the spell.                                                                                        

 Viyona is a young student with a passion for telling tall tales.