The Invisible Potion

“The Invisible Potion” is one of the outstanding stories of the first biannual International Short Story Contest 2018 written by Giuseppe Farrugia, St. Clare College – Primary B, Malta.

The Invisible Potion

It was a Saturday morning in December and the temperature was below zero. The wind blowing chilled me down to my bones. During breakfast, Mum asked me and my brother to go and visit grandma, who was down with the flu. She had prepared some delicious chicken soup for her to help Grandma recover and asked us to deliver it to her. We also planned on spending some quality time with her to kill the time she spent on her own.

Grandma’s house is situated a stone’s throw away from ours, so we went on foot. We had almost arrived when I spotted a small bottle in a colorful plastic bag at side of the pavement, close to a rose bush. I decided to take a closer look. Even in that dull weather, where the sun was nowhere to be seen, the bottle still looked very shiny and glittery. It also looked very mysterious. On the label it read, “Drink me and feel great!”. My brother was getting very anxious and he warned me to leave it where I had found it. He knew I was very mischievous; in fact the idea of drinking that liquid was very appealing to me, so I drank a little in a gulp!

I felt a bit weird and dizzy for a while, and then I looked down at my body! I couldn’t see anything! I had become invisible! I was amazed but at the same time my heart sank. My brother had the fright of his life; he could still hear me talk but he didn’t see me – only the clothes I was wearing! He picked up the mysterious bottle from where I had dropped it and read the bottom label. It said that the magic will only wear off if the victim eats a big bowl of jelly! We ran as fast as lightning the last bit to Grandma’s house. My brother explained the situation to my very calm, understanding and sneezing grandmother! She quickly put her thinking cap on and the first thing she did was to take away the bottle of the invisible potion out of our sight. Then she prepared some jelly. In the meantime I waited nervously till it cooled down. It felt strange seeing everything around me whilst no one was able to see my body. After eating the jelly I started feeling myself again. In a few moments I could see myself again. I wasn’t invisible anymore. What a relief!

Grandma made me promise her that I will never touch or drink anything I find outside and she promised me that this incident will remain a secret between me, her and my brother. We didn’t tell another soul! I have learnt my lesson well!