Agatha Apple had a broomstick, a spell book, and a heart full of hope.  She wanted to be a witch.  Miss Hiss, her witchly instructor, said she needed practical experience.  “What does that mean?” asked Agatha. 

“A job,” said Miss Hiss.  So Agatha set out to find one. 

The town of Toadstool needed a witch.  They posted a sign that read: Help Wanted. Town of Toadstool in search of Helpful Witch to fix our problems, big and small. “Perfect,” said Agatha.

Agatha hoped to start out with a small problem, but when she arrived in Toadstool there was a big one instead. The town was dry as a bone. There hadn’t been rain in months. Everything was covered in dust, and the townspeople were parched.

Agatha got out her spell book. “I have to start somewhere,” she said. So she turned to the chapter about making rain. The spells seemed rather advanced. And she didn’t have many of the ingredients. She tried and tried but nothing worked.

Finally, Agatha tried the last spell in the chapter. Soft, plump raindrops fell from the sky.  “I did it!” said Agatha.

The townspeople were thrilled. “Hooray for Toadstool! Hooray for Agatha!” They danced in the rain and filled up their pitchers and watered their gardens.

Eventually, they’d had enough. Agatha said the magic words backwards, as instructed in her spell book, but the rain kept falling. She snapped her fingers five times.  Still the rain kept falling.

Agatha watched the water get higher and higher.  It swirled around her ankles.  She turned in a circle three times.  She hopped on one foot.  She threw two handfuls of salt over her shoulder.  But still the rain kept falling.  Now it tasted a bit like the sea.

“What should I do?” wailed Agatha. She called Miss Hiss.

“When you can’t beat them, join them,” said Miss Hiss.

“What does that mean?” asked Agatha.

“Boats,” said Miss Hiss. So Agatha set out to make some.

The boat enchantment in her spell book worked rather well, and soon the whole town was afloat. But the townspeople didn’t seem very happy. “We’d rather be parched than be drowning,” they said.

“What now?” Agatha asked Miss Hiss.

“Still got your broomstick?”

“Yes,” said Agatha.

“Look at the tag,” said Miss Hiss. It read: Witch’s Escape Plan.

“Perfect,” said Agatha. And she flew off, leaving an ocean behind her.