As the sun dipped lower over the hills, and the shadows on the forest floor grew deeper and darker, Penny made her way through the trees, her basket filled with herbs and supplies that she had gathered. When she got home, she would have to prepare the herbs and hang them from the rafters to dry. Then she'd have to clean up the store and make sure that everything was ready for tomorrow... Running a business was much harder than Penny had first thought. Her mother had told Penny a lot of things about magic and healing, but nothing had prepared her for a real-life job. But at least now Penny was finally starting to get her momentum up. Maybe one day, she'll be able to fulfill her dream.
Looking around, Penny's small frown deepened.
"It's getting dark," she murmured, to no one in particular. Brushing her wind-swept hair out of her eyes, Penny looked down at the old, crotchety broom she was riding.
"C'mon, let's pick up the pace. We're almost home." The broom seemed to slow in response, as if speeding up was the last thing it wanted to do, then it slowly began to accelerate. Penny sat back, a satisfied smile on her face, and gently patted the smooth wood.
"That's a good broom."After a few minutes of fast flying, the forest began to clear, and the path that Penny had been following widened into a dirt road. At the border of the trees, Penny's little cabin sat nestled between a towering, old oak tree and a copse of aspen, Penny's namesake. Bulky basket on one arm, Penny stopped her broom in front of the door, her other hand searching for her key. "
Now where did I put that darned thing," she muttered, slipping off her broom and to the ground. Putting the basket on the doorstep, and then propping her broom against the door, Penny searched her pockets for the rusty old key. With a gasp, Penny pulled it out with a triumphant cry, and held the key out in front of her
"A-ha!"Penny blinked, her vision focusing on what lay beyond her key, something not fitting right with her memory. Frowning, Penny brought the key closer to her eye, squeezing one shut and peering through the ring on the key as if it were a telescope, or an eyeglass. The kindly old hawthorn tree was missing branches. And... a whole chunk was hacked out of the trunk! Outrage bubbled up in Penny's chest, making it hard for her to breathe for a moment, and Penny drew herself up to her full height. It wasn't terribly intimidating, but Penny was too angry to care. Penny stomped across the road, hell-bent on finding the perpetrator and giving them a piece of her mind.
[Well this got unnecessarily long, oops. I promise posts won't be this long in the future x'D Penny is so fun to play with ahehehe]