The three trolls looked around the dark room in a panic, as the lights around the room suddenly began to re-light, but instead of electric lightbulbs, there were actual flames, swaying gently in the breeze.

A loud cackle arose through the air, as the front door swung open, three silhouettes standing in the doorway.

Leaf, Poppy, and Branch gasped, quickly ducking behind tables to remain hidden, as the three wicked sisters entered the room.

     "We are home!" Winnie announced with a cheerful cackle, raising her hands into the air.

     Branch gulped, shrinking down a bit in fear. He just couldn't believe his eyes.

     'This can't be happening,' he thought to himself. 'They can't be real...'

     "Oh, sweet revenge will be mine!" Winnie laughed. "Do you see, sisters? My curse worked perfectly!"
"That's because thou art perfect," Mary praised.

     "But who... lit the black fame candle?" Winnie questioned softly, walking towards the lit candle that flickered with a black flame.

     Suddenly, her gaze turned towards Branch's hiding spot, the young blue troll shrinking down, as his heart stopped. Could she see him? Did she know he was there? Oh... he was so dead...

     Winnie gasped, as a large smile broke out on her face, beginning to run towards Branch.

     He wanted to run, but he was frozen stiff. What was he going to do if these witches found him!? They would suck all the life out of him claiming it as their own.

     "Ugh..." he groaned softly, his face turning pale at the horrific thought. He felt like he was gonna barf, his stomach doing loop-da-loops.

     Luckily, the oldest sister had not spotted Branch after all. Instead, she ran to her book, tapping gently on the glass that surrounded it.

     "Wake up. Wake up, sleepyhead," she said in an oddly soothing voice, as the book's singular eye opened up to look at her. "Oh, I've missed you. Did you miss me too?"

     Finally, she turned back to her two sisters.

     "Come on, now. We've got work to do," she told them, heading over to her cauldron to start he wicked brew.

     Meanwhile, Mary began to sniff the air, picking up an all too familiar scent.

     "Winnie..." she said maniacally, hurrying over to her older sister.
"Yes?" Winnie questioned, turning to look at her curiously.
"I... smell... children."

     The red-haired witch grinned at her sister's word, while the three children gulped, their hearts sinking down into their stomachs.

     "Sic 'em!" Winnie ordered, Mary immediately obliging, as she sniffed around the room.

     "It's a little girl," Mary announced, following the trail, towards Leaf's hiding place.

     'No... no, no no...' Branch thought, watching the three witches slowly approaching his little sister. 'Don't find her... please don't find her...'

     "Seven. Maybe eight," Mary informed, sniffing for the child. "And a half."
"Ooh, let us play with her!" Sarah laughed, jumping around like a child. "Come, little children... I'll take thee away..." she sang softly. "Into a lan..."

     Quickly, Winnie covered her youngest sister's mouth to silence her, as the three approached the display case Leaf was hiding behind.

     "Come out, my dear," Winnie said in a soothing tone. "We will not harm thee."
"We love children!" Mary shouted, slamming her fist down on the shelf which startled the young child, causing her to jump up with a screech.

"I thought thou would never come, sisters," Leaf said calmly, pretending she was one of them. She was dressed like a witch after all. Maybe if they thought she was like them, they wouldn't hurt her.

"Greetings, little one," Winnie said politely.
"'Twas I who brought you back," Leaf informed, trying to stay calm.
"Imagine that..." Mary said, looking at the child closely.

"Such a pretty little... child," Winnie complimented, almost vomiting at the 'c' word. "Look at her," Mary said, poking Leaf's stomach. "And she's so well fed, isn't she?"
"Plump. Plump. Plump!" Sarah sang with a smile, as Leaf gulped, staring at the three witches with wide eyes.

"Tell me, dumpling," Winnie said, pushing Leaf down into a chair. "What is the year?"
"19... 93..." Leaf answered nervously.

"Sisters! We have been gone 300 years," Winnie announced, pacing back and forth slightly. "Well, Winnie... how time fies, huh?" Mary joked. "When you're dead!"

The three sisters laughed loudly, Leaf laughing along, hoping to please them. If they liked her... maybe they wouldn't eat her.

Suddenly, the laughter halted, all three sisters looking at the little girl with sinister grins.

     Leaf gulped, as she looked around at them, her heart racing in terror.

        "Well... it's been great fun, but I..." Leaf said, starting to get up from the chair. "I...I'd better be going..."

     "Oh, leaving so soon?" Winnie said, pushing the child back into the chair. "You should stay for supper."
"I'm... I'm..." the little girl stuttered, looking around at the three witches surrounding her. "I'm not hungry."
"But we are," Mary laughed, the three sisters suddenly scooping the child up in their arms, as they carried her towards the cauldron, ready to cook her alive.

     "AHHH! No!" Leaf screeched, kicking and screaming, trying to break free from the witches' grasps. "No! Let me go!"

     "Stop!" Branch shouted, suddenly jumping out of his hiding place without even thinking. He couldn't let them hurt his little sister. "Let go of her!"

     "Roast him, Winnie. Roast him!" Marry laughed, looking over at Branch.

     Suddenly, before the young blue troll could do anything, the oldest sister raised her hand, Lightning shooting out of her finger tips.

     "Ahh!" Branch yelled out in pain, as the green lightning struck his body, causing his muscles to seize as he fell to the ground in pure pain.

     "No!" Leaf cried out, seeing her brother fall to the floor, unconscious. "Branch!"

     "Ugh..." the young boy groaned, beginning to regain consciousness, as he grasped at his chest, a sharp pain snaking through his whole body.

     Slowly, Winnie approach the weak child, smiling down at him.

     "You," she said zapping him with a quick bolt of lightning, before pointing at the wall. "There."

     Suddenly, Branch flew up off of the floor, slamming hard into the wall with a groan.

     "I haven't lost my touch, sisters. See?" Winnie praised herself, blowing smoke off her finger like it was a pistol.

     "Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!" her two sisters chanted, as the oldest witch shot yet another stream of lightning at the helpless child, lifting him off of the floor, as the green strands of electricity wrapped around his body.

     "Uuuugh!" Branch cried out in pure agonizing torture.

     "Branch!" Leaf cried out, trying to run to save her brother, but Mary held her back, laughing at the boy's pain.

     Poppy watched the whole thing going down with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. She had to help... but how?

     She gasped with an idea, grabbing an old dusty broom off the wall.

     Quickly, she ran over to the middle sister, holding the broom over her shoulder like a baseball bat.

     "Mary!" the pink troll shouted out angrily. The purple witch turned, smiling when she saw the child in front of her. "Well, hello..." she started, but was quickly cut off by Poppy whacking her with the broom.

     Now free from Mary's grasp thanks to Poppy, Leaf ran towards the oldest sister.

     "You leave my brother alone!" the little girl shouted out in anger, whacking the witch across the head with a frying pan.

     "Ow!" the red-haired witch screamed, falling to the floor, the stream of lightning around Branch breaking away from him, as he fell back down to the ground, barely conscious.

     "Branch! Branch!" Leaf cried out, running to her big brother, his eyes shut as he leaned limply against the wall. "Branch! Get up!"

     The blue troll blinked open his eyes, looking weakly up at his little sister, his mind a blur. What was happening?

     "Why you little..." Winnie grumbled, rushing towards the two children, but before she could reach them, the black cat from before jumped onto her head, scratching viciously at the witch's face. "AHHH!" she screamed, stumbling back a bit. "Get it off! Get it off!"

     "Come on, Branch!" Poppy cried, helping Leaf yank the young boy up to his feet. "We need to get out of here!"

     His memories came flooding back, as he regained his strength, looking around the room frantically, quickly coming up with a plan to escape.

     "Go! Both of you get out of here!" he yelled, ushering the two girls out the door, before climbing up the rafters of the small house.

     "Get it off. Ahh-ha-ha-ha-ha!" Winnie cried out, still fighting against the black cat.

     Finally, she whipped it off of her, the cat yelping in pain, as it slammed into the wall.

     "Hey!" Branch suddenly yelled, standing on the old ceiling beams.
"Hmm?" the three witches questioned, turning to face him in confusion.
"You've messed with the great and powerful Branch..." the blue troll announced loudly. "And now must suffer the consequences!"

     He pulled the lighter out of his pocket, holding it high above his head.

     "I summon... the burning rain of death!" he yelled out dramatically.

     "Burning what?"
"Burning rain of death?"
"What's the burning rain of death?" the three witches muttered to each other in confused whispers.

     Branch lit the lighter, the witches gasping in horror.

     "He makes fire in his hand!" Winnie gasped in disbelief.

     Quickly, the young boy raised the flame up to a fire sprinkler on the ceiling, water immediately shooting out of it.

     "AHHH! The burning rain of death! It's the burning rain of death!" Mary and Sarah yelled, running around in a panic. "Come on, you idiots!" Winnie shouted sternly. "Get under shelter!"

     They quickly ran to hide under a table, taking cover from the harmless water that they thought would kill them.

     Branch smiled at the sight of his plan succeeding, quickly hopping down from the rafters to make his escape, but at he ran for the door, he slipped in a puddle of water, falling roughly to the floor.

     Before he had the chance to get back up, the black car jumped onto his chest, looking down into his bright blue eyes.

     "Nice going, Branch!" the cat yelled out sarcastically, Branch's eyes widening in shock. "This whole thing is all your fault!"
"You... you can talk?" Branch asked in pure confusion.
"Yeah, no kidding," the cat snapped. "Now, get off your butt, and grab that spell book!"

     Branch nodded, quickly jumping up to his feet.

     "Get him you fools!" Winnie ordered, pointing at Branch.
"But it's the burning rain of death!" Mary objected, remaining hidden under the table.

     Quickly, Branch ran to the display case with the old spell book inside, looking around for a way to open up the glass cealing it inside.

     Finally, he spotted the old broom Poppy had used to fight off Mary, quickly grabbing hold of it to smash the glass into pieces.

     "Ahh! My book!" Winnie cried out, too scared to run out into the burning rain of death. "Don't! No! He's going for my book!"

     Branch grabbed the spell book, quickly running for the door.

     "My book! He's got the book!" Winnie cried.

     Quickly, the blue troll ran out the door, immediately hearing Poppy and Leaf calling out to him.

     "This way, Branch!" Leaf called out to him. "Over here!"
"Come on! Come on!" Poppy ushered. "This way! Hurry!"

     The three of them ran off quickly, the black cat running in front of them to lead the way.

—————

     "Ohh! Confound it!" Winnie yelled out in anger, sticking her hands out to catch the water in her hands.

     "Winnie! No!" Mary cried out, worried for her sister. "It's the burning rain of death!"

     "Shut up you idiot!" Winnie snapped. "It is but water!"
"Huh?" Mary questioned, reaching out to touch the water as well.
"Most refreshing," Sarah laughed, catching the drops on her tongue.

     "You idiots!" Winnie shouted out in anger, slapping the back of her youngest sister's head. "The boy has tricked us! And stolen my book! My precious book!"
"Oh no..." Mary muttered.
"After him!" Winnie ordered.
"Yes, Winnie," Mary and Sarah said simultaneously, all three of them running out the door to chase the children.

     They reached the road, stopping at the sight of it, as they jumped back in fear.

     "'Tis a black river," Winnie informed, looking at the asphalt road.
"Perhaps it is not too deep," Sarah suggested, putting out her foot to touch the pavement.

     Winnie and Mary looked at each other, both of them getting the same idea.

     Without warning, the two sisters shoved Sarah out into the road, seeing if she would sink.

     "AHHHHH!" Sarah yelled out in fear, but quickly realized she was still alive, beginning to hop up and down happily. "'Tis firm! 'Tis firm as stone," she announced to her two sisters, who joined her cautiously.

     "Why... why, it's a road!" Winnie shouted out with joy. "Sisters! After my book!"

     The three of them began walking down the road together, sirens suddenly blaring through the air.

     "AHHHHH!" the sisters screamed out in terror, not knowing what the sound was. "Run!"

     Quickly, they turned, running back to the safety of their house.