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The Magic Word
Reader Star Rating: 
Uncle Al
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SYNOPSIS
Read about how Celia, a Kelpie girl, outsmarts a wicked witch.
Celia was a special wee lassie.
Celia was a Selkie.
Selkies are born with a magic caul that only works for them.
A caul is like a seal skin and when a Selkie puts it on over their clothes, they become like a seal and can swim away, way, way out to sea.
Selkies don't come ashore very often as some people are nasty and make fun of them because they are different.
Celia liked to go to the play park.
She liked to swing on the swings, slide on the slides and merrily go round on the merry-go-round. She would hide her caul in a rowan tree because they magically protect anything in or around them.
One day when she went to get her caul from the rowan tree, a wicked witch was there. She was wearing a black dress and a black pointy hat and wee black beady eyes like two dots. She had sharp pointy teeth with a long pointy nose and a pointy chin with a wart on the end.
"He, he, he," she cackled, "The wind blew your caul away out of the rowan tree. Now I have it and you have to do what I say. The only way you can get it back is to bring me a fishy and say the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back."
So Celia went away into the sea and brought back a fishy for the wicked witch.
"Here's a fishy I've brought for you," said Celia, "Now can I have my caul back?"
The wicked witch ate the fishy in one big gulp and cackled, "He, he, he, not until you say the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back."
Celia remembered seeing a magician who said, "HEY PRESTO" and then pulled a white rabbit out of a top hat. So she said, "Hey Presto; now can I have my caul back?"
"He, he, he," cackled the wicked witch, "HEY PRESTO is two words. The special magic word that would make me give you your caul back is only one word. Now go and get me more fishies, I'm still very hungry."
So Celia went back out to sea and brought back two fishies for the wicked witch and said, "Here are two more fishies I've brought for you. One and two makes three so that's three fishies I've brought you all together. Now can I have my caul back?"
The wicked witch ate the two fishies in two big gulps and cackled, "He, he, he, you still haven't said the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back."
Celia remembered the same magician saying "ABRACADABRA" then making a white dove come out of a big red hanky. So she said, "ABRACADABRA, Now can I have my caul back?"
"He, he, he," cackled the wicked witch, "ABRACADABRA isn't the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back. Now go and get me more fishies, I'm still very hungry."
So Celia went back out to sea and brought back three fishies for the wicked witch and said, "Here are three more fishies I've brought for you. I've already brought you three fishies before and two times three is six, so that's six fishies I've brought you all together. Now can I have my caul back?"
The wicked witch ate the three fishies in three big gulps and cackled, "He, he, he, you still haven't said the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back."
Celia remembered the magician saying "VOILA" and making a bunch of flowers appear out of nowhere. So, she said, "VOILA now can I have my caul back?"
"He, he, he," cackled the wicked witch, "VOILA isn't the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back. Now go and get me more fishies, I'm still very hungry."
So Celia went back out to sea and brought back four fishies for the wicked witch and said, "Here are four more fishies I've brought for you. I've already brought you six fishies before. Six and four makes ten so that's ten fishies I've brought you all together. Now can I have my caul back?"
The wicked witch ate the four fishies in four big gulps and cackled, "He, he, he, you still haven't said the special magic word that would make me give you your caul back."
Then Celia remembered something her mummy was always telling her and said, "Now can I have my caul back, PLEASE?"
The wicked witch hissed and fizzed and disappeared in a big puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Celia saw her magic caul lying on the ground. She picked it up, and went into the sea and put it on. When she became a seal, she sang, "Voyna, voyna, voyna - voyna voyna vay."
Soon she heard other selkies singing back to her, "Voyna, voyna, voyna - voyna voyna vay."
They were her mummy selkie, her daddy selkie and her selkie brothers and sisters and all her selkie friends and they were all very happy to see her again.
Now I'll tell you a wee secret about selkies.
When they are seals they can't talk or do lots of other things that people can do, but they still think like people and they can still wink. So, next time you see a seal, wink at it and if it winks back it's a selkie.
Who knows it might even be Celia of the seals.
The End
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