Happy Halloween!

 Recently, there was a lively #KidLitChat discussion on Bluesky about whether or not Halloween stories need to be scary. As someone who has always loved the magical, imaginative part of the "spooky season" without so much of the "spooky" parts, I emphatically believe that Halloween tales can be a wide range of things. 

Millie the Middling Witch, attempting to spell
(artwork by Philip Bartles)

Spooky and scary? Sure, if that's what you prefer.

Sweet and silly? Absolutely! (Like candy for your brain!)

Heartwarming and hilarious? Why not?

I always love to see the wide range of stories entered in Susanna Leonard Hill's annual Halloweensie Writing Contest... but I always forget about it until the contest opens and then I tell myself I don't have enough time to write something worth posting. "Maybe next year" has been my mantra for the past several years. But this year, I didn't let myself off the hook! This year, I've entered a sweet, silly story that's been kicking around in my brain. It was quite a challenge to edit it down to the 100-word limit, but that's part of the fun of the contest, right?

I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it! Happy Halloween, y'all! May your bags be full of treats and all your tricks be of the magical, wondrous, happy variety.

Miss-Spelled

Millie the middling witch couldn’t spell. 

She mangled the middle of her “prince to frog” spell and he simply got lost in a fog. 

She bungled the beginning of a pricklewort potion and got soft lotion instead. 

And instead of sweets for Halloween trick-or-treats, poor Millie conjured up sweat!

“Buzz off!” she yelled when a bee knocked at her door. “Halloween is ruined!”

But he had a hurt wing and couldn’t fly away.

Millie offered her lotion to soothe the wing, and the Spelling Bee was so grateful that he gave Millie a dictionary.

So she never miss-spelled again!