"ACHOO!" The sneeze racked Ariene's slight frame, her body lurching forward. She had been walking back to Mervin's house, carrying a basket full of ripe strawberries on her hip. She is, after all, freeloading at his home, the least she could do was pick strawberries and make a delicious strawberry pie, which hopefully won't blow up this time. You see, Ariene has a habit for that – blowing up things, that is. She is a witch, sort of, and was officially inducted to the Guild of Witches when she was 15. An age way past the prime time of joining. Her brothers and sisters happen to be some of the most influential and powerful witches and wizards of their time, so Ariene became a black sheep with her clumsiness and failure in pretty much all things magical.

Back to the sneeze. It meant that some one was thinking about her. She dearly hoped it was someone nice. If it wasn't they were probably going to appear and curse her, or worse. That actually had never happened, considering she isn't worth the wasted time and effort. No one wanted to curse or worse a Witch of the Lowest Order. It's like kicking an injured puppy. And puppies are cute.

Ariene sighed and kept walking. She missed Fish. And Didd. And Arven. And Rune. She even missed Mouse. The only person she had been able to find after the accident was Mervin. Thank goodness she hadn't been thrown very far. She happened to appear in a near Port Coben in Kalabar. It had only taken her 3 and a half weeks to get to Mervin, albeit unwelcome. Mervin is a hermit. A very cranky hermit. And Ariene's clumsiness didn't add to his abundance of hospitality. Since she's been there, she had broken 8 dishes, 17 cups, 2 windows and blown up 42 of his working potions by accidentally adding something she wasn't suppose to. Yes, he told her to stay away, but she was just trying to help!

But, she is going to redeem herself today. She will bake a delicious treat that will send him running into her arms giving her a big kis—err… that will make him so happy he'll forget all the accidents that have happened. Hopefully. Maybe she should put a forgetfulness potion in it? Ariene shook her head quickly, dispelling the thought. The last time that had happened, the person disappeared. It was sad.

Ariene pushed open the back door and crept quietly into the kitchen. Mervin had been brooding away up in his tower (which he had officially banned her from) and she didn't want to ruin the surprise. She got to work quickly, tying her apron on, gathering the ingredients, washing the strawberries and cutting them up. She prepared herself: here comes the hard part. She retrieved a giant bowl from a cupboard and began mixing in the butter, flour, and all the rest. She relaxed; this isn't so hard! She successfully mixed all the ingredients, molded the dough into the shape she wanted and set it into the baking pan. She poured the strawberry mixture in and layered the top with strips of extra dough. Victory! She pushed the pan into the brick oven and turned to wash up. Just as a resounding BOOM came from the inside of it. She cringed, waiting for the yelling to start.