(FICTION)

Once upon a time, in a large house in the prettiest part of town, there lived a witch. She kept mostly to herself, especially at Christmas time. For at Christmas one year, while caroling with friends, she’d slipped on a patch of ice and come crashing down, hurting her back. The experience left her rather bitter.

Suffice to say she was a grumpy witch at Christmas. The witch’s neighbours knew to leave her alone.

Then one year, in the spring, a new family moved in next door. They installed a pool and had loud parties in their back yard every weekend throughout the summer, and they built a fire pit to sit around in the fall, singing Kumbaya every night.

They drove the witch crazy. She couldn’t sleep for the noise, she couldn’t cast spells, and even her black cat threatened to leave home.

So when she heard her neighbours practicing Christmas carols in October, the witch concocted a potion, just in case they showed up at her door.

And she waited.

November passed, and the first week of December, then the second week. And on the third week, she heard a knock at her door.

And then the singing.

Jingle Bells. It couldn’t have been worse.

The witch opened the door, potion in hand, and offered a cup each to the family. They thanked her and she closed the door.

And the singing was no more.

When the witch woke up in the morning, she had a family of silently caroling snowmen on her front lawn. And all was quiet next door.

(To be continued.)

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1. Just Jot It January starts January 1st, but it’s never too late to join in! Here, we run on the honour system; the “jot it” part of JusJoJan means that anything you jot down, anywhere (it doesn’t have to be a post, it can even be a grocery list), counts as a “jot.” If it makes it to your blog that day, great! If it waits a week to get from a sticky note to your screen, no problem!

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