Little Sophie crawls under her bed and lays on her back. Despite how big she is for her mere age of ten, her bed frame is double her size. One day she will be too big to fit, but until then she stretches out her big girl arms and legs and waits.
There is a deafening silence and then a creak. She stares at the underside of her bed for a few moments longer before she closes her eyes and listens to the soft voice.
"When little Sophie opens her eyes, she finds herself standing in a tall garden of purple. The flowers here smell sweet like candy and their rough petals tickle her. She giggles as she carefully steps out of the garden and onto a gravel pathway.
Behind her is a long stretch of a town that is too far away for her to see beside the bright orange dirt road that runs through it. When she turns around, she sees, directly in front of her, a huge dark castle made of wood and windows. She tilts her head back but she cannot see the peak - the top half of the castle is hidden by grey clouds.
In the gigantic entrance of this huge castle is a witch. She is seated on a floating broomstick - her feet never touch the ground. Her skin is purple and her eyes are emerald green. She is wearing a beautiful black dress and a pointy black hat that slumps over like it is tired from a day's work. Her long dark curls waterfall from the rim of the hat and dangle all the way down to the edge of her broomstick.
She hastily floats toward little Sophie who notices that this witch has freckles that look like little sparkling stars.
'Little Sophie!' the witch exclaims. Her freckles bounce as she speaks. 'Thank goodness you're here! There is trouble afoot in Halloween Land!'
'What is it?!' little Sophie asks. 'What is happening?! Tell me!' She takes a step closer and returns the witch's worried stare.
'As we speak, there is a great and terrible battle ensuing!'
'What kind of battle?' questions little Sophie, who is trying her best to understand.
'It is a battle between the house gnomes and the forest trolls for control over Pumpkin Forest!' the witch shrieks accidentally, then shrinks back in apology.
Little Sophie, who is at first stunned by the witch's shriek, regains her composure and asks, 'Why are they fighting for control?'
The witch takes a deep breath in and explains:
'For centuries now, the forest trolls have tended to the trees in Pumpkin Forest. Every full moon they use their claws to prune the trees so that the trees can grow happily and healthily. But the house gnomes have decided that they know what is better for these magical trees. They believe that pruning them only limits their magical potential and they are trying to force the forest trolls to stop because they think they can harvest the forest's power! But the forest trolls know better. If they stop pruning the trees, then the forest will become sick and overgrown. All of the trees will die!' the witch yelps in sudden shock.
'That's terrible!' yelps little Sophie as well. 'But... what exactly do these magical trees do?'
'Why... they give life to all of Halloween Land!' the witch explains as she waves her arms. 'None of us would exist if it weren't for the trees! Not us and not our homes! Not even the land we are standing on! That is why it is important that they are kept alive and healthy! That is why it is important that the forest trolls are left alone in peace to take care of their forest!'
'Have you explained this to the house gnomes?! Don't they know not to disturb the forest?!' Little Sophie is saddened by what she is hearing.
'We have tried to explain it to them, but they refuse to understand!' The witch sounds hopeless and tired. 'They think that by forcing the trees to grow, they will become more and more powerful, when in fact it will only destroy the land! The house gnomes believe they are right and will not listen to anyone else who tries to tell them otherwise, even if the others know better!' The witch scoots down her broomstick and pats the space next to her. 'Here, come sit. I will show you!'
