Witch Ingredients by Dani Carr

Foraging isn’t always pretty.

Toads. The damn things were always needed for potion ingredients. Toad eyes, toad toes, toad skin. Toadstools.

Elle was just amusing herself now, thinking about all the different things pulled from toads as she foraged by the pond. Toadstools. Well, that was a mushroom. But still.

Toad toad toad.

Elle giggled to herself. Sometimes words lost all meaning when they were said over and over. She began to sing to herself, making up a tune as she waited for a toad to pop its head up. 

“Toad, toad, toad. Tooooad, toad, toooad,” she sang, placing mushrooms in her basket. “Toads upon toads, one toad two toad, toooooads.”

Ugh. She needed to get out more. Since it seemed she was out of luck on wooing a toad into her basket, Elle picked herself up and dusted off her skirt. She’d have to try again tomorrow. 

“Good thing I don’t need you until later,” she told the denizens of the pond. “You get another day. Enjoy it!” 

Softly, softer than Elle could hear, a toad sighed with relief. Avoided the witch again. Any day out of the cauldron was a good day.

for more brilliant works from Dani Carr, check out: @thisdanicarr on Instagram, @itsdanicarr on bluesky