Chapter 19

          “That’s acorn sauce for on your berry surprise, which is the purplish gooey stuff.  Then you have mealworm morsels which are those tan slimy things with the leaf under them,” she replied.  I cringed at the thought of pulling goo covered mealworms out of my teeth.

“And what’s that…?” I asked hesitant, pointing at the white liquid substance in the hollowed out acorn top.

“That’s-,” before Nixie could finish the blonde haired lady in waiting stuck herself between me and Nixie.

“That’s the best stuff! You’ll love it!” the girl laughed.  Gwen sighed and placed a hand on the side of her head.

“Are you sure…?” I asked skeptically.

“Positive!” she exclaimed before scurrying over next to the other brunette girl.

“Okay then…,” I sighed as I nervously picked up the cup.  As I held it, moving it closer to my lips, I gently shook the cup expecting it to spill but instead it jiggled! Food doesn’t jiggle unless it’s Jell-O! Let alone a drink!  I finally managed to gather enough courage, and taste the drink.

           The second it touched my lips, I immediately dropped the cup on the floor, spit out the wad of white goo, and gagged.

“What the heck was that?” I exclaimed, gagging between words.  The blonde girl was over in the corner laughing until her face turned blue and she was gasping for air.

“That wa-,” she stopped between breaths and burst out laughing hysterically until she fell over with a thump.  Still laughing!

“That’s curdled spider milk, Annabelle!” Nixie exclaimed before handing me a cup of water which didn’t take me long to gulp down.  Gwen then stood up from her chair, walked over to the blonde girl, and then…snip! Gwen cut off a bit of the girl’s hat’s stem!

“Clarissa, what have I told you about giving guests the curdled spider milk! On purpose!” Gwen reprimanded.

“Sorry your highness! But I just had to!” Clarissa replied laughing.

“I give up,” Gwen sighed before walking over to me.

“Annabelle, are you okay?” Gwen asked, offering me a hand.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry about the mess,” I coughed as I wiped saliva off of my chin and standing up.

“Its fine, Clarissa at this rate won’t have any stem left for me to snip,” Gwen grinned.

“Now then, Nixie why don’t you take Annabelle to clean up?” Gwen asked Nixie softly.  Nixie nodded as she took my finger and led me out of the room.

 

Annabelle illustration by Kristen Strutt