short story #25: An Unexpected Invite

Preface:

Today, I offer you a glimpse into the adventures of our in-house magical couple – Uncle Albert and Aunt Rosie. You mind remember them from my short story #13: A Cup of Love. Click on the link to read the story. 🙂

Though this short story can be read as a stand-alone story too, I would suggest checking out the first story in this series as well, if you haven’t read it already.

Uncle Albert and Aunt Rosie were busy as usual in their quaint little cafe – “A Cup of Love”. The air was rich with the delicious smell of coffee, freshly baked cakes, and everything sweet and delicious. Uncle Albert, Aunt Rosie, and their cute little snowmen fairies – Happy, Wonder, Sweety, and Naughty had magical abilities, unlike their common, non-magical customers. But they never used it around the non-magical folk. Well, Uncle Albert and Aunt Rosie never did. As for their cute little minions, I can’t say the same.

Uncle Albert had just taken a break from serving customers when he was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. Pulling away from the crowd of customers, Uncle Albert thrust his palm outwards. As if on cue, a big raven with a glossy black coat and beady little eyes materialized out of thin air. She dropped a tiny letter into his outstretched palm before vanishing from sight. Uncle Albert pulled on his reading glasses and whispered a spell that made the letter resume its original size. What he read made his jaw drop out in amazement. Merlin’s beard! It was an invitation from Merlin himself! Merlin -the greatest of wizards to ever walk the Earth. He had heard a lot about Aunt Rosie’s fluffy, soft and delicious chocolate cakes and wanted to try them himself.

After the steady stream of loyal customers were all attended to, Uncle Albert broke the news to Aunt Rosie. She was so overwhelmed with happiness that tears of joy threatened to escape from her eyes. As soon as they closed the shop for the day, Uncle Albert and Aunt Rosie packed up some of their best pastries and set off to Merlinland on their broomsticks. Merlinland, home to the great wizard of all times was more beautiful and marvellous than they had ever imagined. The icy mountains glinted in the sunlight as if they were chiselled out of shiny diamonds, and the flowers were all in a state of perpetual bloom. They nibbled on the sweet white clouds that were made of spun sugar. Fairies danced around playfully as they jumped from one cloud to another. Their playful chuckles blended in melodiously with the cacophony caused by phoenixes and dragons. Even the creepers seemed to exude beauty and a fragrance sweeter than anything you could find on Earth. Merlin’s castle stood on the highest mountain, a glorious vision in white. And there on the steps of the glorious castle, stood Merlin himself with a wide grin, to welcome Uncle Albert and Aunt Rosie.

This post was written in response to Sadje’s What Do You See prompt. Thank you Sadje for hosting this challenge. The challenge is to use the picture prompt as inspiration to compose an original story, poem, or a caption.

Do you have any idea why Merlin sent out an invite to Uncle Albert and Aunt Rosie? Any guesses?

Image courtesy: Pixabay (Stefan Keller)

Click here to read all my other short stories. 🙂

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© 2020 Shweta Suresh. All rights reserved.

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