This month’s cover of “Rock Fan” magazine splashed the figures and grotesquely painted faces of the world’s latest rock band rage “Lucifer’s Lockets”. Their smashing new hit song, “Give Me a Minute of Your Time”, was “Taking the Country by Storm”, the headline screamed.

Isabel sat in bed with her back resting against a pillow and reading the details of the group’s mysterious explosion into stardom. They chose not to reveal their background and were never seen without their gnarled painted faces used to obscure their identity.

Her eyes blurred for a second and snapped open when the magazine slapped her on the chin as it dropped to her chest. Ten o'clock, time for lights out.

Her green and white plaid flannel pajamas looked nice with her red hair. Her mom often told her so. From Isabel’s point of view, warm and comfy was enough since she wasn't trying to make a fashion statement in her pajamas.

Not only were her jammies old, but the legs were also at the high-water level well above her ankles. She obviously had grown some. This reminded her of her doctor's office visit a week ago. To her credit, she had an athletic body at a hundred and twenty pounds and five foot four. This was in the acceptable percentile for sixteen-year-olds.

She turned the bedside light off, punched her pillow to make a hollow for her head, and snuggled deep into the dent she made. 

A moment later her eyes snapped open, bulging out of their sockets as they tried to see in the darkness. The green numbers on the bedside clock glared at midnight. What, I just closed my eyes a moment ago and it was only ten o’clock, she thought.

Waking up in the middle of the night is unusual for her. She usually sleeps like a log all night:  unless she drinks a lot of water before bed.

She didn’t have to go potty. But something woke her: Perhaps a barking dog or a catfight somewhere outside?

 She lay still and listened for any sound. Her eyes moved from one side to the other in quick succession.

A cloudy sky and no moonlight to lessen the blackness of her room increased her anxiety.

To make things worse, she sensed a menacing presence in her room and starring at her.

At sixteen years old, the idea of a boogieman or ghost didn't seem like an option. It’s not an option with the lights on. Now in the pitch-blackness of her bedroom, a ghost was a real possibility.

Goosebumps on her arms multiplied over her entire body. She pinched her cheek hard to confirm she wasn't dreaming. It hurt and confirmed she was at least awake. She bolted upright in bed.

"Who's there?" she murmured. She didn't want to yell and wake the rest of the house. Her parents would come rushing into her room to find out she was dreaming. How embarrassing.

“Who’s there,” she asked.

A woman's voice said, “Grandma Wilma and Miss Daisy Dobbins”.

A dark figure moved from her bedroom door towards her. She shuffled backwards in bed pushing hard against the headboard.

She couldn't make out the face, but the voice sounded familiar.

"Is that you Grandma? Who is Miss Daisy?”

"One question at a time dear," the voice said, “Turn on your bedside light. We need to talk. "

The lamp brightened by itself. Isabel hadn’t touched the switch. Too weird she thought. Her head snapped back in the direction of the voice.

A tall slender woman, taller than Grandma but about the same age stood staring at her. The person’s dark eyes twinkled as they adjusted to the light. She wore an all-black dress covering her from neck to toe. A pale face, with a wart on a pointy nose all seemed to remind her of the wicked witch from a book she had once read.

"You're not my grandmother. Where is she?"

"Stop asking two questions each time you open your mouth. No, I'm not your grandmother. I'm Miss Daisy. "

"No, she's not but I am, “her grandmother’s voice said. She moved from behind Miss Daisy where Isabel could see her.

"What are you doing here? Why are you dressed in black?" 

"Because," she said. 

The image moved closer. With the help of the light that "she" didn't turn on, she could just make out a black outline topped with a tall, peaked hat and the tip bent over pointing to her left. On the band above the brim the word "front”, was printed in white letters and glowed in the dim light.

"Why are you dressed like that? Were you at a Halloween party?"

"Because, and No! Please stop asking two questions at a time.

"Then you stop with the 'becauses'? You're making me crazy. Why are you dressed like a witch?"

"Because. . . I am a Witch.”

"Really? Her grandmother’s friend is a wicked witch?" Boo hoo, scary, scary. She waved her hands in the air like a white-sheeted ghost fluttering in the breeze. "I don't believe you.”

"Be careful what you say young lady, or I'll turn you into a toad, too.”

Her Grandmother came out from behind Miss Daisy's shadow. She wore the same witch's costume.

They walked in single file, which allowed enough room to pass through her bedroom door. Isabel always keeps the door locked to discourage her two younger brothers from entering unannounced. A locked door didn't seem to bother Grandma and Ms. Daisy.

"No more toad incantations," Grandma said to Miss Daisy. "We're in enough trouble ".

"A toad?” What are you talking about,” Isabel asked?

Miss Daisy raised her arm and tossed a big black sack on Isabel’s bed close to where she was sitting. The bag twitched and wiggled. Isabel envisioned a bag of snakes.

Isabel’s mouth opened to scream but no sound came out. Her vocal cords locked up.

"Don't even think about screaming. I’ve temporarily frozen your vocal cords so you can only speak in a whisper," Miss Daisy said.

Isabel jumped out of bed holding her throat with both hands and at the same time surveying the package on her bed.

"Open it", Miss Daisy said.

A drawstring weaved through the hem of the bag and a slipknot kept the top scrunched closed. In terror-based trepidation, Isabel forced her fingers to gingerly untie the knot and loosen the drawstring by grabbing the bag at the outside top. With the tips of her fingers, she turned the bag upside down and dumped the contents on the bed. At the same time, she bounced backward away from the now empty bag.

To her surprise, two large green bullfrogs tumbled out of the bag and landed on her bed.

She tried to scream but lost her voice again.

"Is this what I think it is?" She said when she regained control of herself, and her voice came back. "No. . . that is 'who' you think they are. " Miss Daisy said.

"Don't worry honey. It's just Josh and Ethan. " Grandma said.

"Josh and Ethan? Why would you do that? Grandmothers don't turn their grandchildren into 'bullfrogs'!"

"I do," Miss Daisy said.

"But that was a mistake", Grandma corrected.

Isabel looked in the direction of the bed to confirm what she thought she was seeing. Two large green bullfrogs, each the size of a soft ball, sat on her bed.

"I thought you said toads."

"Frogs toads, toads’ frogs, maybe I got them mixed up a little. Toads are ugly enough. All I was doing is trying to make a point. Frogs are equally as bad don't you think?"

Isabel looked closer at the bullfrogs. Their faces were human while their bodies were that of a frog.

There was no mistaking who the faces were. Their freckles gave them away. Freckles were a family trait. All Burnetts are born with carrot-red hair and freckles.

Josh and Ethan's mouths moved. However, the sound was faint. Miss Daisy had quieted them down as she had done to Isabel.

Get us out of here," Ethan yelled in a whisper. He was very scared. Josh looked around Isabel’s room for his baseball bat that he keeps by his bed for protection.

 Tears spilled down Isabel’s cheeks. No matter what they did, they didn't deserve this she thought.

Fear now crept into her body as reality washed over her. Her mouth hung open.

"Why did you turn my brothers into bullfrogs?" "Am I next?” Isabel was becoming angry.

 Her grandmother said, "One question at a time dear. It confuses Miss Daisy. To answer your first question, yes, that is Joshua, and the other is Ethan."

"My Mom and Dad are going to have a hairball when they find out about this.”

"Perhaps they'll never remember. Or. . . perhaps I'll turn you and your parents into toads", Miss Daisy threatened.

Isabel didn't try to correct her about the difference between frogs and toads but said, "You wouldn't dare.”

"Oh, wouldn't I.” 

She raised her arm holding a knotty branch from a small bush. The tip twinkled.

"W. . .  w. . .  w. . .  wait. . .  wait," Grandma said in a panicky tone. "She believes you, Miss Daisy.”

"Okay then, a little more respect for us elders are required around here if you ask me.”

"Why are you doing this? Don't you love us anymore, Grandma?" Tears continued to stream down Isabel’s face as her brothers wiggled around the bed and in full knowledge, they had no way to change their predicament.

"There you go again two questions. One at a time please."

"Of course, I love you dear.”

"Then why did you turn Josh and Ethan into bullfrogs?"

"I didn't. It is all a mistake. Miss Daisy and I attended our meeting of the Sovereign Sisterhood of Good Witches where full regalia including pointy hats are required. On the way home I decided to come over to visit you and your brothers and to make sure you had nice dreams. I do every night, you know. Miss Daisy decided to come along with me. "

"And?" Isabel nodded her head to suggest Grandma should continue.

"You are so pretty when you're asleep.” Grandma smiled at the memory and touched her cheek with her right index finger. “I tripped over something on Josh's bedroom floor and the noise woke him. Ethan heard the noise and he ran into Josh's room. "

"I tried to tell them it was me," Grandma said. "They didn't believe me. Josh was so scared he grabbed his baseball bat to protect himself. Ethan threw his baseball glove at Miss Daisy trying to distract her while Josh bonked her with his bat."

"He knocked my 'Yo-mum,' off and bent the tip", Miss Daisy said and pointed to her black hat.

"Yo-mum?"

"Yo-mum is an ancient word for our pointed hat. We call it a 'Pointy" now. Anyway, Miss Daisy said her hocus-pocus words “under her breath and turned the boys into toads before I could react.”

"Bullfrogs?" 

"Okay, bullfrogs . . .  anyway. . . I need to figure out a way to reverse the incantation. In the melee, Miss Daisy forgot the words of her witch’s palindrome. "

"Forgot the words? What kind of a witch forgets the words to an incantation?"

"An old one”, Ms. Daisy piped in.

"How can I help?” I don't know any incantations, I'm not even sure I believe this whole thing is happening. Am I having a dream?" Her cheek still hurt where she had pinched herself earlier and that answered her question.

"Two questions", Grandma said and waved her finger at Isabel.

"This is no dream and no joke," Miss Daisy said.

Isabel went to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Don't sit on your brothers dear," Grandma said.

She jumped up visualizing the idea of sitting on her brothers and squashing them flat. She moved them over and sat down.

"Okay, say this is all for real. What do you want me to do?"

"Thank you, dear. Witches use an immediate reaction word to protect them from danger. This gives us time to think of and say the right words that are more appropriate to ward off the danger. “The words are like 'Palindromes'".

"What is a Pal-in-drome? I never heard that word before," she said.

"Palindromes are words that are spelled the same way forwards and in reverse. For example, like 'MOM or DAD", Grandma explained. “We use our special palindrome, which is a word spelled one way and a new word when spelled in reverse. For example, the word 'saw' becomes 'was' when spelled backward.”

"I get it.”

"All we do is say the word, touch our Ankh, and point our twinkle stick or my first finger at the danger. Presto, the danger is gone and reappears as whatever we were thinking about when we said the word. "

"How did Josh and Ethan become bullfrogs?"

"Kind of complicated," Grandma said.

"If you expect me to help, I should know what happened.”

"You are right. It would be better if Ms. Daisy explained.

“My palindrome is the word 'WARTS'. To reverse the spell, I use the word 'STRAW'. The problem is when I said the word WARTS, I wondered why toads have warts and frogs don't. Next thing you know, zap, your brothers, became two bullfrogs. I can't find a palindrome with the words, 'Two Frogs,'" she said and shook her head in sadness".

Isabel glanced at her side where Josh and Ethan had moved closer to her. She wasn’t fond of frogs, all slimy and such. But those were her brothers. Their eyes were tear-filled and revealed their fear. They understood the problem and didn't like what was being said as a solution.

"Now, let's stay calm,” Grandma said. She saw the fear in Isabel’s brother's eyes. "We've still got time.”

"What do you mean we have time? Are we on a timetable or a clock?"

"There you go again. One question at a time dear."

"This is getting scary. Do you mean we are on the clock, a time limit?"

"Yes," Miss Daisy said.

"How much time?"

"We are given one minute for each letter in the palindrome word we use.”

Isabel counted the letters of the word "warts" on her fingers.

"Five? You mean only five minutes?"

"No, about three minutes more or less. We've spent some time trying to reverse the spell before we woke you. "

"Three minutes!"

"Don't panic. We have lots of time to find the reverse spell," Grandma said.

"Wrong. . . Isabel said. She too was now panicking. Three minutes is not long at all.”

She couldn't understand the words Josh and Ethan yelled, but they were panicking along with her after hearing what Grandma just said. She was sure she heard Josh yell, “Get us out of here!” His face was flushed red, and Ethan's was, too. Both nodded their heads rapidly as confirmation.

"How do you reverse the spell," Isabel asked trying to calm herself. Rational thinking was the only way to help.

"You say the palindrome word in reverse and point your finger. Presto, the spell is reversed."

"Okay, let's try it. ‘Straw!’ Miss Daisy said and pointed her wand at Josh and Ethan. The two bullfrogs remained on Isabel’s bed looking back at her but now not moving.

 "See what we mean. Nothing works, Grandma said. "Time's running out. If we don't reverse the spell before the time expires, they'll stay like that for five hours, then five days, then five months, and then five years. It only gets worse. "

Having to make accurate decisions under stress was not Isabel’s strong suit. This was the exception.

"Okay, let’s settle down. We need to concentrate for a second."

Isabel’s mind was racing, and she tried to control her emotions. 

"Let's write all the words you said on a piece of paper. Say the words exactly as you did before." Isabel suggested.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Grandma said. She handed me a piece of paper and a pencil. 

"Where did that come from?” She really didn't want to hear the answer.

"Okay . . . number-one, you said 'Warts,' correct?"

"Correct.”

"Two, you pointed your wand at Josh and Ethan, right?"

"Right.”

"Next you thought of toads, and then frogs right?"

"Right.”

"Then presto they were frogs, right?

"Right. What an intelligent child you are. "

"Okay let’s do it in reverse," Isabel suggested.

"First say 'STRAW' and then point your wand at the frogs and think of Josh and Ethan. Please hurry we don't have much time left. "

"STRAW," Miss Daisy said. She pointed her pointy stick at the bullfrogs and grabbed the necklace hanging from her neck. She closed her eyes and mumbled something.

Isabel hoped she was thinking about her brothers and not something else. Grandma had her eyes closed tight. Her fingers crossed as well. Isabel closed her eyes.

The bed giggled. Isabel’s eyes flashed open. The room had darkened and became silent. Her light was now off so she turned it back on and ran to Josh's room.

The soft blue lights of his aquarium and the sound of bubbling water filled the room as usual. He was sleeping soundly with his baseball bat resting by his right hand. Ethan's baseball glove lay on the floor by the door. That was unusual as Ethan was the most organized kid she knew. He always keeps his stuff in his room neatly packed away. She dashed across the hall to Ethan's room and he too lay fast asleep.

Isabel’s Dad opened his bedroom door, wakened by the noises she made.

"What's going on?" He said. Her mother came and stood beside him.

"I was going to the bathroom.”

"Are you planning on going to the bathroom in the hall,” her mother asked.

"Of course not," Isabel said embarrassed by the conversation. “I thought I heard a noise.”

Her Dad gave one of his patented eyebrow raises he used to mean he was confused.

"See you in the morning. Sorry for waking you.” Isabel walked back to her room and listened for her parents' bedroom door to close.

As she walked across the bedroom, her foot touched something on the floor. She didn't jump because something always hung on the floor in her room. Not taking any chances of what could be on the floor, she glanced down and saw a pointy witch's hat. She picked it up and inspected the tip. It flopped to the left. The word "front" printed in white across the band, shone in the dim room.

"Miss Daisy wants you to have her old hat," Grandma said.

Isabel jumped in surprise.

"I thought you'd left.”

"We couldn't go until we apologized.”

"Right. I'm so sorry for all the fuss. I decided to retire from the "Sovereign Sisterhood of Good Witches” and turn in my twinkle stick. "

"You don't have to do that. Everything turned out fine. "

"Oh, but I do dear. It's time for me to retire. "

"I'm sorry to hear that but I know you'll make the right decision.”

"There's still something else you need to know," Grandma said. 

"And what would that be?"

"It's a long story.”

"I want to hear it.”

"Okay then. . . When a baby is born to our family, the 'Sovereign Sisterhood of Good Witches, the grandmother’s branch' passes on to the new baby not one, but two palindromes to use when they need help. One is the word 'Mom' and the other is the word 'Dad'. Say the word and see them in your mind’s eye and they will always be there to help you.

"What happens if they're not near when I need help?"

"They are always there in spirit even when you can't see them. All you do is close your eyes, say the palindrome, and visualize your parents. They will always be there to guide you. "

"Do you mean I can ask for anything I want and get it?"

"No, it's not that kind of help. Should you need another opinion to decide, they will give you their point of view. Sometimes it will not be what you want to hear. "

"I understand.”

"Well, it's time we let you go back to sleep. When you wake up in the morning, you will remember everything we have said. What you will remember most is that I love you and will always be there to help guide you through your whole life. Good night and sweet dreams. I'll see you in the morning."

Grandma grabbed a necklace hanging from her neck, grabbed Ms. Daisy's hand, mumbled something and both disappeared.