Evgeniya - the witch

ANAAGOVIC DR DRLJEVIC

How Evgenia the Witch Fell in Love with Fairy Illustrriactaed Ma ic Tales Kicus Translated Maja Josipović

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A little girl called Hope was sad because she couldn’t go to her Grandma’s on her own and take cookies and kisses to her.

Her Grandma lived far away, all across their town, and Hope was still too small for such a long journey.

That is why Grandma visited her granddaughter almost every day, bringing her unusual gifts, both small and slightly bigger ones. It was enough for Grandma to stand in front of the door, knock in her recognizable fashion

KNOCK, pause, KNOCK, KNOCK -and Hope would glow with joy – Grandma had arrived!

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One chilly morning, Grandma woke up early, had her coffee with milk, fed her dog and packed her presents in a red backpack. She then put her little plush hat on her head and set off to visit her granddaughter.

A long journey was ahead of her. Twenty-seven streets, eleven skyscrapers and forty-nine houses away, her little Hope was waiting for her.

Grandma was rushing down the street, lovingly thinking about her granddaughter, her smiling eyes and her sweet voice when suddenly a horrifying shriek spread across the sky above her.

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This horrible screamlaughter belonged to Evgenia the Witch, well-known to children and adults from scary stories. She climbed down the sky right in front of Hope’s Grandma and hissed: ‘I know you! Every day you read your granddaughter some fairytales, whether it’s Hansel and Gretel, Snow White or The Sleeping Beauty, it’s all the same.

My cousins witches and I always get into trouble, we always suffer the most.

Plus, you make fun of us – you call us fat, ugly and mean… Well, that’s over with now!’

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It was obvious that Evgenia was not joking at all. She unleashed heavy clouds and lightning bolts upon Grandma even though the day had been completely clear a moment before.

Grandma jumped on a bus that had just turned up and shouted to the driver to close the door quickly. At that moment, a stormy wind, like a servant of Evgenia’s, swayed the vehicle dangerously.

In less than no time, the little hothead was already peeking through a window of the bus, looking for a familiar face. The moment she caught sight of Grandma, she curled her lips into a grin and, equally prone to mischief as to riding a broom too fast, she stuck her tongue out cheekily.

‘Now you’ve gone too far!’ Grandma, who had been angered by the bold stuck-out tongue, exclaimed.

Wasting no time, she put her hand in her backpack.

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Under her fingers, she felt her reading glasses, hand cream, and finally, what she had been looking for – a little mirror. She turned it quickly towards the scoundrel.

The reflection of sun rays from the mirror blinded the witch.

‘Hey, Evgenia, Evgenia, hey, leap now, far, far away!’ Grandma whispered under her breath something that resembled magic words.

And indeed, the witch lost control over her broom, which had started bouncing up and down and back and front across the sky, taking Evgenia far away from the bus.

Grandma smiled.

I am still in good shape and I can deal with all sorts of things that happen to be on the way to my Hope, she thought happily.

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Fourteen bus stops later, near Hope’s house, Grandma was just preparing to get off the bus when, suddenly, it started pouring: two drops, three… two hundred thousand and three. Huge raindrops grew into a river in no time.

It was not a regular downpour. Oh no! The air smelled of spells and witchcraft.

How typical of Evgenia, Grandma thought, sure that the witch was responsible for this rough weather, too.

The thunderous sound of the torrent may have scared Grandma a bit, but it didn’t prevent her from quickly coming up with a plan to get out of Evgenia’s trap.

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From her backpack, Grandma took out one of the gifts for Hope – a big yellow inflatable boat. She started blowing and blowing until the rubber turned into an actual, real ark.

Then she grabbed two colourful oars and set sail down the river toward the foot of a hill on top of which there was a cake-like building. With Hope in it.

Evgenia was so angry she could barely come to her senses – Hope’s Grandma had found a solution to this meanness of hers, as well. That is why she made the sound decision to stop this unbearable Grandma. Once and for all!

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She quickly whispered some spell of hers and the river Grandma was sailing down became ice-bound.

‘Now, let’s see how you’ll climb up to your granddaughter!’ Evgenia yelled in a mean way, which she had rehearsed in front of a mirror numberless times.

Grandma gazed at the frozen water surface.

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