It was a warm summer’s day and Trix Melancholy was sitting in the Pixie tree classroom. She was just about to doze off for the third time that day when something Miss Particals said caught her attention. Trix immediately raised her hand.
“Yes, Trix?” asked Miss Particals. “Um, I was wondering, why can’t we cross the 2km boundary?’ Trix asked. This was clearly painful for Miss Particals to say. ‘Well, she began. ‘Long ago a wicked witch put a curse on Pixie Tree. Many pixies attempted to break the curse but when they left to try to do that, they never returned’. Trix was sorry she asked.
But then she started to wonder ‘What if I lifted the curse?’. And that was that. She decided there and then she was going to lift the curse.
10 years later.....
“Bye Mom, bye Dad, wish me luck!” Trix called to her parents, Xanthous and Crystal. Today was the day. Trix was embarking on the biggest adventure of her life. She was determined to save Pixie Tree from the 2km boundary curse. Trix flew until she was a full 2 km from home. She sat on a branch on the nearest tree.
Then she took off her backpack and retrieved her ancient spell book. ‘Page 185.. page 185... she repeated to herself. ‘Aha’, she exclaimed so loudly that all the birds in the trees with her flew off!!
Trix cracked her knuckles and her wand appeared in her hands. She took a deep breath and focused her eyes on the spell. But just as she was about to cast the spell, a bright flash of lightening struck the ground. Next, some smoke filled the air and a bloodcurdling crackle was heard.
“Oh no,” mumbled Trix. “Ha, Ha, ha,” a slouched figure crackled. Trix coughed and tried to fan the smoke away from her face.
“Who are you?” she asked after she stopped coughing. Once the smoke cleared Trix could see that the figure was . . a witch.
“I am Wonda, the wicked witch,” the witch dramatically exclaimed. “And I’m assuming you are here to try to break the curse I placed on Pixie Tree?”. Wanda flew up to the tree Trix was sitting on and floated in front of Trix.
“As a matter of fact I am,” Trix replied confidently. They flew to the ground. “Let the battle begin,” they cried in unison.
“You’ll never beat me, you pesky pixie,” Wanda hollered. “I won’t, but they will”, Trix answered. Wanda peered behind her opponent. A brown bear, a hungry wolf, a pack of wild dogs, a swarm of bees and Trixie’s very trusty eagle, Edwin came charging towards Wanda. Trix flew back onto the branch of the tree she was sitting on and re-opened her spell book.
Her plan was working perfectly. The animals were occupying Wanda while Trix and her parrot assistant Diamond were in the trees working on the spell. The parrot sat on Trix’s shoulders, eagerly awaiting a task to complete. “Diamond, I want you to get me a spider’s eye and a crow’s feather,” Trix ordered.
Without hesitation Diamond took off to retrieve a spider’s eye and a crow’s feather. Ten minutes later Diamond returned with the spider’s eye and the crow’s feather for Trix. It took Trix a couple of minutes to spot Diamond flying towards her, but once she did, she started preparing her wand.
“Once Diamond dropped the contents at her masters feet, Trix combined them with Pixie Tree sap and made a soup. She then whistled for Edwin and when he came, she jumped on his back. Edwin flew down in Wanda’s direction.
Trix then stuffed the soup into Wanda’s open mouth. Everyone stood back. There was a puff of smoke and the witch disappeared forever. Everyone cheered. Now the pixie land has expanded and it is now called Pixie Oaks. Pixies all over their new kingdom are happier then they have ever been. Twenty-four year old Trix was elected the first ruler of Pixie Oaks. Thanks to Trix and her friends, the 2km boundary was lifted.
10-year-old Caitlin McLaughlin, Cashla, Athenry, wrote this novel interpretation of the 2km zone as a gift to her mom Caroline Hession, who works at ICU at University Hospital Galway — one of our heroic frontline workers.
