The Magic Drink

After awhile, the ambulance arrived at the hospital and the driver quickly opened the back and wheeled Mungo out.

“Follow me,” the driver told Eilish. Eilish followed. Mungo was wheeled into a clean hospital room. A few doctors rushed over to see what happened.

“Is he gonna be okay?!” Eilish asked.

The doctor checked Mungo, “Well, I have bad news and good news. Which would you like to hear first?”

“Oh, um. The bad news first. Then the good news should comfort me,” Eilish said.

“Well, this might be very difficult for you, the longer he sleeps, the more memory he’ll lose. But the good news is that he most likely will wake up. He is in an alcohol-induced coma,” the doctor told Eilish.

“Memory?! He won’t remember anything?!” Eilish asked.

“He will forget years worth of memory,” the doctor said.

Eilish sighed sadly and said, “This is terrible... Is there anything you can do?”

“There is nothing I can do about his memory, but we can offer him a safe place to sleep until he wakes up,” the doctor said.

“Okay, thank you,” Eilish said.

“And when he does wake up, be careful, he might not know anyone,” the doctor warned.

“Okay...” Eilish said.

Her cell phone rang.

Eilish answered the phone, “Hello?”

“You didn’t tell the police about me did you?!” Scotty asked.

“Um... Kinda, not really,” Eilish said.

Scotty nervously asked, “They aren’t taking Mungo from me, are they?!”

“No, but listen... I got really terrible news,” Eilish said.

“What?! Did Mungo die?!” Scotty asked.

“No but he could of, he’s lost his memory...” Eilish said.

“Where did they put him?!” Scotty asked.

“The hospital,” Eilish replied.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! He has got to remember me!” Scotty said.

“Is it true that you whipped Mungo? ’Cause the police told me you hurt Mungo,” Eilish said.

“Where did you hear such nonsense?!” Scotty asked.

“Is it true, because that’s really messed up and heartless if you do,” Eilish said.

“The police lied...I may be evil...but, do you think I would do that?” Scotty asked.

“Um...” Eilish said.

“Come on, I want your honest opinion, I won’t be mad,” Scotty said.

“...Yes...” Eilish said.

“Alright,” Scotty said.

“Would you?” Eilish asked.

“I actually don’t know. I can do anything evil from hurting a young child’s feelings to destroying the whole world. The police are still out to get me,” Scotty said.

“Why am I helping you if you’re evil?” Eilish asked.

“You are right, but I had warned you I was evil many times, you didn’t believe me. But I guess you don’t have to protect me if you don’t want to... I’ve got something to take care of...goodbye, Eilish...” Scotty said and hung up quickly.

Eilish hung up the phone and whispered, “I think I just lost a friend...”

The nurse checked in on Mungo.

“I wonder why he had to go, did I make him cry? I never said I wouldn’t protect him. Man, I really messed up. I wish I could call him,” Eilish said.

“What’s wrong? Are you still upset about your friend Mungo?” the nurse asked.

“Yeah...” Eilish said.

“It’s okay, I’m sure he’ll be fine once this is all over. Have you visited Pàl lately? He’s been feeling a bit lonely,” the nurse said.

Eilish smiled, “I forgot Pàl was here!”

“I’m sure he’s fine with that. You’ve been very busy,” the nurse said.

“Can you do me a favor, if Mungo wakes up, come get me. I’m gonna go visit Pàl,” Eilish said.

“You have as much time as you need, he’ll probably be asleep for at least five more days!” the nurse said.

“Okay!” Eilish ran out of the room and ran to Pàl’s door; she knocked on the door, “Pàl?”

“Come on in! How are you?” Pàl asked.

“I need to talk with you...” Eilish said with a sigh.

“What’s wrong? Did something happen while I’ve been here?” Pàl asked.

“Mungo... he lost his memory...” Eilish said.

“How did this happen?!” Pàl asked.

“He drank too much Magic Drink. And locked himself in Scotty’s drink cellar. And he nearly died...” Eilish said.

“Poor Mungo, something must’ve happened before he drank the Magic Drink. Why would he lock himself in a drink cellar, it just doesn’t makes sense to me!” Pàl said.

“Well, Pàl, I was talking to the police officer and he told me Scotty whipped Mungo before. I asked Scotty if he did, he said no and asked me if I thought he would. I didn’t answer; I knew I should have hung up. After a while I said that yes, I do think he would. He told me he was evil, I asked him why I should be helping an evil person. And he quickly said bye and he had something to take care of,” Eilish said.

“In my opinion, Scotty created a trap door that automatically locks after he goes through. That way Mungo wasn’t able to get in after him. But now Mungo is older he has learned how to yank the heavy door open. Mungo might’ve been whipped, and then he probably drank more Magic Drink to “heal” himself, but ended up addicted. That’s just my opinion,” Pàl said.

“Poor Mungo...” Eilish said.

“This is basically Scotty’s fault, in this case. Scotty most likely thinks that you are about to send the police after him and he’s also probably very scared,” Pàl said.

Eilish sighed, “Why would I send police after him?”

“For child abuse,” Pàl explained.

“Oh...” Eilish said.

“Whose side are you on? Scotty’s or the police’s?” Pàl asked.

“I just wish everyone would get along! I don’t like fighting!” Eilish said.

“Everyone thinks that it is a war against good and evil,” Pàl said.

“Oh! I’d pick good!” Eilish said.

“In that case, you are one of the people who’s trying to kill Scotty,” Pàl said.

Eilish was shocked by this and said, “But I don’t wanna kill anyone!”

“You can do whatever you want. Others want to put Scotty in jail,” Pàl said.

“Jail... Wouldn’t he just use his magic to break free?” Eilish asked.

“Not if it was a strong enough jail. Like a prison mixed with a dungeon,” Pàl said.

“That’s harsh,” Eilish said.

“It would stop him from escaping and wreaking havoc,” Pàl said.

“Maybe we should make the prison more... Homey,” Eilish suggested.

“That would be abnormal,” Pàl said.

“Well wouldn’t it be nicer then a cold boring cell?” Eilish asked.

“That’d make it a reward, not a punishment,” Pàl said.

“All I wanna do is paint the walls purple, and add a soft bed with plenty pillows and blankets. And a little stuffed animal, so he doesn’t get lonely,” Eilish said.

“Purple is a lovely color, but that’s not acceptable in a dungeon/prison. Maybe, just maybe, you can haggle with a prison owner and pay them to design a cell for Scotty. No deaths involved. How does that sound?” Pàl suggested.

“That’s a great idea!” Eilish said.

Pàl rose from his bed, “Let’s go!”

“Pàl, are you allowed to leave?” Eilish asked.

“I’ll leave if I want to! My arm has already healed so I should be allowed to leave!” Pàl said.

“Oh, okay!” Eilish said.

“Which prison shall we try?” Pàl asked as he walked towards the hospital room door.

“Whichever one you wanna try,” Eilish said and smiled.

“Alright, I’ll take us to one,” Pàl said.

“Thank you, Pàl!” Eilish said.

“But remember, these prisons are the most dangerous places to be! So many bad people!” Pàl said.

“So don’t talk to them?” Eilish asked.

“Don’t get anywhere near the people!” Pàl warned.

“Okay!” Eilish said.

Pàl led her all the way to a prison.

“We’re here!” Eilish said.

“This place might be willing to store Scotty. Why don’t we ask inside?” Pàl suggested.

“Okay, let’s go!” Eilish walked inside the prison.

“Hello, may I help you with something?” the guard asked.

“Our friend needs a cell and can I make it more, homey?” Eilish asked.

“Friend? You are friends with someone who needs to be put in prison? And you want to make changes to his cell? Is this a joke?” the guard asked.

“No, I’m too old for pranks. I’m friends with nearly everyone!” Eilish said.

“Alright, but just who exactly are you trying to lock up? And why would you lock up your friend?” the guard asked.

“Because he’s evil and my other friends probably want me to. Oh, his name is Scotty the Sorcerer of Magical Winds,” Eilish said.

“Scotty is no joke! A prison could gain fame for holding such a dangerous person! Bring him in right away!” the guard said.

“Well, let’s make it more homey for him,” Eilish said.

“I don’t care what the cell looks like as long as it has a high enough security system built in!” the guard said.

“Yay! Thank you!” Eilish said and ran back out, “I’m gonna go pay some people to redecorate!”

“They may question you,” Pàl said.

“I just wanna redecorate it ’cause I don’t want Scotty to be sad or try to escape. Besides, the guard agreed!” Eilish said.

“I know that, but the other people won’t understand,” Scotty said.

“Why?” Eilish asked.

“Everyone knows that prison cells are dark and scary, they also know that the people there deserve such bad conditions,” Pàl said.

“If I had all the money in the world, I’d make all places nice!” Eilish said.

“You can make all places nice, but you can’t make all people nice. Let’s hurry on,” Pàl said.

“Okay, Pàl!” Eilish said.

Pàl yanked the cast off of his arm, “I won’t need this anymore.”

“Let’s get carpet too!” Eilish said.

“I guess you’ll be turning a prison cell into a luxury bedroom?” Pàl asked.

“Great idea! Yep!” Eilish said.

“And how are you going to get Scotty to come to prison?” Pàl asked.

Eilish thought for a minute, “Oh, I know! I’ll tell him he won a free stay at a luxury hotel!”

“...alright...” Pàl said.

“Do you have a better idea?” Eilish asked.

“I’ve got nothing,” Pàl said.

“Okay, let’s go!” Eilish said.

Pàl pulled out a map, “Alright, we can stop by the village, the town, or the other town, which happens to be farther away.”

“Let’s go to the first town!” Eilish said.

“Alright, that is the town surrounding the castle,” Pàl said.

“That’s what I thought,” Eilish said.

“Shouldn’t take too long to get there,” Pàl said.

“Okay! Let’s go!” Eilish said ecstatically.