LilA Merlin & Written
and Illustrated
by Annie Golding
by Annie Golding
For Merlin
The Magic Cat who helped me be brave when i was scared.
It was a peaceful summer’s night, that couldn’t even give a mouse a fright… There’s a all girl curled up in her bed, the covers almost to her head!
“How was school, Lila?” the girl’s mum softly asked
“Scary” said Lila, and cried out - fast
“The maths is tricky, the floors are sticky, the food all tastes like mouldy bread - and worst of all, there’s a horrid monster in the shed!”
“Oh Lila” sighed Mum “my precious jewel…
We all know monsters don’t go to school!”
Later on that same warm, dark night. Little Lila was in for a fright!
First a soft pop, next a loud...
Then a gag, a retch and a piercing
“MEOW”
“YOWL”
Lila shot up, woken from her slumber perhaps a horrible monster had got her number?
She switched on her lamp, which was shaped like the moon. Can you guess what she saw as it lit up the room?
There was another ...
Lila’s mouth hung open, a cat on her lap was why she had awoken.
“MEOW”
As Lila looked on, frozen to the spot the cat let out a stream of horrible sounds…
“ACK”“HURK”“KAFF”“ACCH”
And then, with a splat, much to Lila’s disgust
something shot out of the cat’s mouth and into her lap.
Lila looked down at the thing – a hairball it seemed – inside was a treasure that glittered and gleamed.
She took a deep breath and gave it a poke…
Plunging forward like a brave knight’s sword, her finger eventually reached a surprising reward.
There in her hand was a beautiful crystal, a surprise to be sure but you haven’t heard this still`
As she touched the gem the cat yowled again, but this time the sounds made words like the ink from a pen!
Said the Cat and went on to say more “I’m Merlin and you’re probably wondering what brought me to your door”.
“You’re a witch, don’t you know!” the cat went on with a purr “and I’m here to teach you how to chant, soar and stir”.
“HELLO!”
Eventually Lila let out a great yawn, and fell fast asleep and slept through the dawn.
Lila was gobsmacked and had questions of course, and the pair spoke for hours ‘til their voices were hoarse.
“YAWN”
“The sun is up, the moon is waning – it is time I think, to begin your training.”
The next morning, when Lila awoke, she looked at the end of her bed and saw the cat, then once again it spoke!
Lila sprang up out of bed, and the cat conjured a pointy hat upon her head.
They climbed the stairs - an iron spiral and set up in the attic upon arrival.
Merlin looked around and twitched his tail. “This place will do for your training, now let’s learn about cauldron potions that can heal – or ail.
He conjured up a cauldron on the spot, then Lila worked for hours and learned a LOT!
When they were finished with potions, they moved on to a spell to protect Lila from harm.
“To make sure your spells go right” Merlin explained “you must keep focused and calm!”
She lifted her crystal and called out the words she felt the spell coming and coming and then…
At the end of the day, before leaving their new magic den, Merlin taught Lila one last useful spell.
An unfortunate accident – that didn’t go well…
Merlin hung from the ceiling like a furry church bell!
Conjuring himself back to the ground...
“That’s enough for today” he growled, and for the rest of the day was nowhere to be found!
“ grrrrr” !
The next day Lila and Merlin were reading a book about monsters, friends again.
Some monsters were scaly, some monsters were blue and some monsters were hairy with colourful manes.
As they looked at the pictures Lila saw someone she knew, “I’ve seen that monster” she cried “In the old school shed with the paint, and the screws!”
“No no” chuckled Merlin “now don’t be a fool…
EVERYONE knows that monsters don’t go to school!”
After books they moved on to something more fun, riding on broomsticks outside in the sun.
Merlin conjured the broomsticks and Lila climbed on. She started to move but got up too much speed!
THUMP
She wibbled and wobbled and started to a fall! She came down with a - a mishap indeed.
Lila’s lip quivered, she wanted to quit! “I just can’t do it…I’m stopping, that’s IT!
“Yes, you can” purred Merlin “all witches can fly! Now get on that broom and have another try!”
The cat’s words made Lila feel strong, and they climbed back on the broom. She took a deep breath and then with a swish and a
ZOOM!
Lila and Merlin soared high into the bright blue sky!
“I’ve told you before” hissed the cat, annoyed
The next day, when she got back from school, Lila rushed through the door with urgent news.
“It’s just like I said” she cried “There’s a monster at school - In the old school shed with the paint, and the screws!”
EVERYONE knows that monsters don’t go to school!
went
Lila scowled at the cat and to her room, shut the door on the cat for the rest of the afternoon.Later, at dinner, Lila spoke again “Why won’t you listen, I thought we were friends!”
“I really did see that monster at school – I know what I saw. It was furry and brown with razor sharp claws!”
“Fine” yowled the cat “If you’re so sure –we’ll go there tonight and find out more”.
Lila jumped to her feet and ran to the door…
By the time Merlin got there, she had her shoes on and a look in her eye the cat hadn’t seen before.
66
They snuck into the garden and got on their brooms, flew into the sky like a shooting star through the gloom.
“Just wait” said Lila as they flew over the school gate “The monster is here – you might not believe me but soon the proof will be clear!”
The pair land in the playground right next to the shed, and Merlin jumps to the ground and shakes his head.
“We’ll see” said the cat, and Lila walks towards the shed door…
First
a CRASH as she opens the door
Then the monster emerges and lets out a fearsome
ROAR!
Merlin let out a YOWL and Lila a scream, and shot off a spell that once she had seen…
From out of her crystal shot thick vines green as snot, and wrapped round the monster and tied it in knots!
hahahahahahahaha!
The terrible growling started to change to a bright, friendly giggle – now isn’t that strange?
A flash of white light made Lila cover her eyes, and when she opened them she was so, so surprised!
But as the vines wrapped around the monster’s wide, furry chest, something else happened that you wouldn’t have guessed…
She stared at the place where the monster had been, but that horrid, clawed beast was nowhere to be seen!
Instead, a young boy stood in front of the shed, with vines wrapped around him from his toes to his head.
“Merlin!” called Lila “You were right all along! It wasn’t a monster but this boy, I was wrong!”
“Well” purred Merlin, “I told you the rule – everybody knows monsters don’t go to school!”. “Although” added the cat “I didn’t expect this – you were right to bring us here, imagine we’d missed it!”
Lila was speechless and Merlin was stunned.
“I was transformed into a monster, and it broke me to see just what I had become.”
The boy shook his head and wiped away tears “I hid at this school for two hundred years.”
He looked up with a smile and went on to say, “But then you spotted me – this must be my lucky day!”
Lila smiled at the boy and offered her hand, and the boy gripped it tightly, glad she could understand.
“All I needed” he said, as the three walked away “Was someone to show me kindness, someone who would stay.”
“If you hadn’t been brave” purred Merlin “If you hadn’t been kind, then this poor boy would still be cursed, in a terrible bind.”
The three climbed on the broom and flew their way home, and since that day the boy has never been alone.
We might not all be witches, with spells and potions, but we can all still be brave and protect each other’s emotions.
It doesn’t take much to choose kindness not cruelty and make the world better – that is our biggest duty. You never know what someone might be like inside, what feelings and thoughts they hold deep down and hide.
There’s no braver thing than to be a good friend. And with that, it is time, for our story to…
END
Winner of my 6 year old cousins admiration, 2023
When Lila the little witch meets an unexpected friend her life changes for good, learning spells how to fly a broomstick and ultimately how to be brave and kind even when you are scared!
