Mab’s Christmas Nightmare
Mab screamed on the inside. She’d been silently screaming for the last three days, emitting curses that no-one else heard. Ever since that accursed Witches Christmas Ball.
She knew attending was a huge mistake, but Hortense had insisted. So she’d furtled around in her wardrobe for her best party dress, shaking out the cobwebs.
The fateful evening had arrived. Mab spent the evening grousing in the corner, watching her co-witches giggling like village idiots. She’d been so bored.
Towards the end of the evening came the highlight of the ball. The drawing of the ‘Secret Santa’ gifts. The crowd moved as one to the cauldron, full of gifts, greedy hands plunged deep to find the best one. Hortense pushed Mab forward. She reluctantly thrust in her hand, grabbing the first thing her fingers found – a card, in a revolting shade of pink, covered in glittery, spangly sparkles. On it was written ‘A Traditional Family Christmas Experience in a Non-Magical Household’.
“Nyx’s knickers!” she’d exclaimed in disgust.
She was about to drop the foul thing back into the cauldron when, with a ‘poof’, the world went black.
She was quite discombobulated when she’d come back to herself; her body rigid as a poker and far smaller than her usual size, perched atop a Christmas tree with a particularly prickly branch poking up her artfully arranged skirt.
Someone, somewhere, must be howling with laughter at their cosmically cruel prank. Her idea of partaking in a traditional family Christmas certainly did not include turning into a porcelain fairy, stuck up a tree with a draught around her fairy pants. Her Secret Santa gift donation had been much more appropriate, a pot of her fragrant pink camellias.
Mab had tried thinking incantations to get her out of this mess, but nothing worked. She hoped the appalling gift came with an expiration date.
“And I really hope their Christmas is rotten,” she thought, longing for her own home where she could forget Christmas, tucked up in front of a roaring fire with a potent glass of Witches Brew.
Maybe next Christmas… she hoped…
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What fun – Mischievous Mab is back, and as delightful as ever! I can’t wait to see what she does next, and how she gets out of being an “angel”. I laughed out loud imagining her adorning a Christmas tree. Well done, Carrie.
Thanks Fuji. I’ve gotten quite fond of Mab. She’s featured in a few of my stories now. I think I’m channeling my inner slightly wicked witch 😉
Poor Mab ? I hope there’s a follow up for Mab’s revenge!!
Perhaps she can contact Clytie for help; although I do hope it wasn’t Clytie who donated the gift ;p
She would never… or would she? Haha 😉
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I can’t think of anything worse for Mab than becoming the fairy on top of the tree! This was so funny Carrie and I love the words you use, ‘discombobulated’ my favourite. We all need a laugh right now and this really hit the spot. Loved it.
Discombobulated is a superb word isn’t it. I would imagine poor Mab was feeling somewhat bamboozled too. It was her first Christmas after using the rejuvenation spell too, so the experience was probably very frustrating. I wonder what Miss-Teeq did with herself when she was left home alone for Christmas? I’ll have to see if she’s willing to tell me that story 🙂
Poor Mab! Life isn’t fair. She gave a bouquet of camellias and received a terrible Christmas experience! I hope that she is right about an expiration date for the present! An imaginative and fun-filled Christmas tale, Carrie. I love your wordplays!
Thank you Christer. I’ve become quite fond of Mab; she’s a fun character to write, so I’m very glad you enjoyed reading her story.
I believe Mab has become your alto ego, and what fun you can get up to in every story Carrie. I bet before you drop off to sleep Mab has already started to get up to her mischief and just like the witches brew, your story is full of imaginary ingredients. What an exciting talent you have Carrie – I hope everyone takes the time to read – like – and comment -we all have so much to learn from each other. Thanks for a wonderful read.
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Sorry, I must have missed this comment before. Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the story. Mab is one of my favourite characters to write about. There are few that come knocking on my noggin when I have a prompt. Mab, obviously, a wizard called Whizzbang, who is one of Mab’s few friends and is somewhat disastrous. I’m collating all the flash fiction stories I already have for these two into two separate short stories, the Mab one is complete already, and submitting them to the Michael Terence Publishing Competition. Princess Cyrene and Prince Tarok raise their heads for sci fi themed stories, I’m planning a trilogy of short stories for them, and I have 11 year old twins, Jem and Clem who are the stars of a children’s spy story that I’m writing. They all started out in my 100 word prompts over the last 2 years and now they vie for a place in my stories whenever a prompt comes up ?
Nyx’s knickers, indeed! This is a hilarious tale, Carrie. So much fun! I wasn’t on the site last Christmas, so this story was a treat indeed, perfect for Christmas week. Now I’ll have to go search for your other Mab stories. According to the comments, she is your alter ego. Can’t wait to find out more about her witchy adventures. Thanks for the story, and thanks to the Voice Team for posting it just at the right time. Happy Holidays, everyone!
Thank you, Julie, I’m glad that another person has been able to have a bit of a giggle at poor Mab’s expense ????. She’s a character I can have a bit of fun with. I was surprised to see the story as this weeks audio recording when I logged in yesterday. Have a Merry Christmas ????