Back at Hillhurst, Irene and the monsters were putting the finishing touches on the party decorations. Brightly colored balloons and streamers were all over the place.
"Where's Frankenbeans?" Little Ghoul said, trying to hang a streamer. "I can't reach any higher!"
"I guess they don't call you Little Ghoul for nothing, huh?" Mums jeered.
"JUST SHUT UP AND GET BOLT BRAIN!" the ghoul shrieked.
The mummy scurried into the parlor an saw Frankenbeans sitting in the couch snipping something with a pair of scissors.
Mums walked up to him. "What're you doing?"
"Making card for Ashley." he replied. Mums took the card and saw that it was grey and shaped like a tombstone. It had the letters R.I.P. in red on it.
Mums slapped Frankie in the face with the card. "It's her birthday! Not her funeral!"
"Picky, picky, picky." Frankenbeans grumped.
"So far, so good, fellas!" said Flabber. "Ashley's gonna be so surprised!"
"And now for the finishing touch!" Irene brought out a delicious looking birthday cake with sweet pink frosting and white icing.
"Now that looks delicious!" Flabber said.
"Of course, it's angel food cake, Ashley's favorite." Irene smiled warmly. "As far back as I can remember, all Ashley really enjoyed about birthdays was the cake! She has the worst sweet tooth!"
They all laughed, "Okay! Positions, everybody!" Fangula said.
Everyone hid behind a piece of furniture and waited for Ashley to arrive.
A few minutes later, they heard the door open. "Hello?"
The lights turned on and everybody jumped out. "Surprise! Happy Birthday, Ash-"
But they all gasped when they saw Ashley. Her skin was green as a lime, her long red hair was tangled and stuck out all over the place. Her little 'beauty mark' was now a big, ugly wart.
Irene covered her mouth, she looked ready to faint.
Fangula slowly approached his girlfriend, disturbed beyond belief. "Ashley, what happened to you?"
Ashley smiled. "Nothing's wrong, I've never felt better in my life!"
"But you're...you're...you're GREEN!" Mums stammered.
"Why yes, I'm looking a radiant green on my birthday today." Ashley said with a chuckle. She looked around and saw all the party decorations. She frowned. "What kind of party is this?" she snapped. "What's with these decorations?! All these bright colors! It's horrible!"
"But, but you told me you wanted a nice, normal birthday." Irene managed to say.
"Normal?! What's normal about nice?!" Ashley huffed. "I thought you loved me!"
"Who are you?!" Flabber shouted.
"Well, let's hope the cake is good." Ashley looked at the delicious cake. She stared and stared at it. "What...is that?"
"It's your favorite...angel food cake." said Little Ghoul.
"ANGEL FOOD?!" Ashley screamed. "What are trying to do?! Poison me?!
Ahley whistled for her broomstick, which zoomed to her side. "I'm out of here!" Ashley huffed. "If I can't rely on my family or friends, then I'll just throw my own party!"
Before anyone can stop her, Ashley kicked up her broom and soared out the window.
Irene held her head in horror. "Ashley...what's happened to my baby?" she was almost in tears.
"I wonder if..." Fangula pondered.
"What?! Wonder what?!" Mums blubbered.
"If Ashley...is going through the Witching Phase?"
"The Witching Phase?!" Flabber exclaimed. "Of course!"
"What's the Witching Phase?" asked Irene.
"The Witching Phase is when a witch matures and develops. It's the first step to becoming a full witch." explained Flabber. "It happens to every witch on their 13th birthday."
"But Ashley didn't become that when she turned 13!"
Fangula folded his arms. "Hmm, probably because Ashley didn't discover her powers when she was 13, since she only discovered them last year. Now that today's her birthday, its obvious that Ashley is going through the phase now!"
"So Ashley is...going through a growth spurt? A witch's growth spurt?!" said Irene.
Flabber nodded. "Exactly, mood swings and all."
"Well, how do we get rid of it?!" Little Ghoul yelled.
"Don't worry, the phase will pass when Ashley officially turns another age!"
"And when is that gonna happen?!" said Mums. "Today's her birthday and she became a gang green girl!" shouted Mums.
Flabber scratched his head. "Well, from what i know, there's only one way to do it, but we have to get Ashely back here!"
In the park, the people of Charterville were in utter disbelief. What this really happening? A witch flew on her broom flying through the sky. She swooped down just inches from their heads, filling everyone with fright.
When she landed her feet on the ground, the people backed away in fear. Ashley traded in her black dress and fedora for a floor length black robe and a pointed hat. It's as though she became the Wizard of Oz witch - but with red hair.
Ashley glanced around the people, trying to find the perfect victim.
The crowd was being parted by someone. "Out of my way! Move it!" It was Britney Chambers muscling her way through the crowd. "Alright, what's going on?"
The witch smiled, her victim has arrived.
Britney made her first mistake: she walked right up to Ashley. "Are you cosplaying or something?"
Ashley smiled and pointed her magic finger and,
"With this rhyme and a curse,
make her a toad or something worse!"
And just like that, Britney became a lizard girl, covered in scales and had several bugged out eyes.
The people around them screamed and ran in all directions, Ashley began to chuckle before breaking into maniacal laughter. "Now this is my kind of fun!"
"Ashley!"
Ashley knew that voice, "Fangula? What do you want?" she sneered with a scoff.
The vampire approached his girlfriend. "Ashley, I know you're birthday wasn't the kind you wanted, but we're going to make it up to you."
"Oh, NOW you want to make it up to me?!" the wicked witch snapped. "Forget it, I'm on a roll, tonight. I'm gonna paint the town green!"
"Alright," Fangula said with a sigh, "then I guess I'll have to throw away the new cake I baked for you."
Ashley held her palm up to stop him. "Hold it, what new cake?"
Fangula pulled something from under his cape. Ashley's mind was boggled when he presented her a scrumptious, yet strange looking two-layer cake. It was brown and glazed with dripping, slimy green icing coated with unusual toppings. "This is a cake with frog slime icing with toad wart and spider leg sprinkles."
Normally, this would make a human sick to their stomach, but not a witch's stomach. Ashley's mouth began to water. "Um, what kind of cake is it?"
"Why, Devil's food, of course." Fangula answered with his toothy smile.
Ashley was touched. "And you baked it...for me?"
"Of course, this is your birthday, isn't it?" Fangula gave her a kiss on her green cheek. "Now let's go home. There's a new, better surprise waiting for you."
"Well, okay." Ashley said before she and Fangula hopped on her broom and flew back to Hillhurst together.
Fangula led Ashley up the stairs and through the door. Her eyes were closed. "Now keep them closed, and no peeking!" he instructed.
"Fang..." Ashley said, growing a little impatient. She took a few more steps.
"Okay!" Fangula said. "Open them!"
Ashley opened her eyes. The lights turned on and in front of her were her mother and friends. BUt that wasn't all, the party decorations were different. The streamers were tore up and were now colored black, grey and dark green, the same colors as the new balloons. Halloween-like decorations were all over the place.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ASHLEY!" everyone shouted.
Ashley gasped, she covered her mouth. She was surprised indeed. "Oh...my gosh..."
"We're sorry for not realizing it sooner." Flabber said. "But we've taken the liberty of throwing you an abnormal birthday!"
Ashley wiped a stray tear from her eye. "Oh, thank you everyone. I couldn't ask for better friends like you..."
Fangula lit the candle on Ashley's cake. "Now make a wish."
The young witch closed her eyes for a moment, then blew out the candle. Everyone cheered and clapped, but paused when something happened.
Ashley held her head and squeezed her eyes shut, groaning awfully loud. A crack was heard, and her green skin began to peel itself clean off her face. Her wart popped like a bubble and was gone. Her hair began to contort back to it's fine, natural curl. All of Ashley's beautiful features have now returned!
She rubbed her head. "Ugh, what happened?" Then she snapped her eyes open. "Oh my gosh! I remember! I turned my best friends into frogs! I've gotta save them!"
Flabber put a hand on her shoulder. "Relax, Ash. Just gather up that magic and repeat after me: Return things to how they were. All happening hence, becomes a blur."
With a nod, Ashley took a deep breath, gathered the sparkling green magic in her hands and recited,
"Return things to how they were.
All happening hence, becomes a blur!"
A green shockwave came from Hillhurst, affecting the whole area of Charterville. Dawn and Hillary were human again, but had no memory of what just happened, the same goes for the rest of the people in Charterville, even Britney.
"Wow! I did it! I really did it!" Ashley squealed in excitement.
"Yep, you've become even stronger." said Fangula.
"I guess there are many ways of growing up, and they're all hard." Irene confirmed.
"So what are we waiting for?" Little Ghoul said. "That cake's not gonna eat itself!"
"Thank you, Little Ghoul." said Irene. "But there's an angel food cake for Ashley waiting for her. Right, Hon-"
Irene paused when she watched Ashley conjure up a fork and took a bite of Fangula's cake. She smiled. "MMMM! This cake is delicious! Thanks, Fang." Ashley was about to give him a kiss, but paused when she remembered her mother was watching. So Ashley gave Fangula a big hug instead.
The witch's mother had a disgusted look on her face. "Ashley, you're eating that cake..."
"I know, its actually really good!" Ashley said with a mouthful of cake. "Besides, you're always saying I should try new things."
Irene sighed and held her head.
Flabber laughed. "I guess Ashley's taste in food has developed too!"