Whenever Mr Hake came to a party, people began to go away quickly to other rooms. He loved to tell stories and most of his stories had been told so often that everyone knew them off by heart! Now, it was terribly boring to listen to his uninteresting stories again and again.
One day, however, something strange happened. Mr Hake arrived dripping wet at the house of Mr and Mrs Logan. Everyone looked at him in amazement.
“What happened to you, Mr Hake?” asked Mr Logan as Mrs Logan got a large towel for him to dry himself. He sat near the fire and everyone crowded around him.
“It was a ghost, Mr Logan!” whispered Mr Hake.
“A ghost?” gasped everyone.
“I was walking over the wooden bridge across the stream,” began Mr Hake, “It was becoming dark. I heard a rustling sound. I looked around and saw no one there. I began walking again, and again I heard the sound!”
Everyone was listening, eyes wide open with wonder.
“I looked into the water,” continued Mr Hake, “And do you know what I saw?”
“What?” asked the group.
“There in the water was a large goldfish. As I watched, it was transformed into a beautiful girl in a shimmering gold and orange dress! I was fascinated. She called me and said, ‘Mr Hake, please find my jewels. They have fallen into the water here.’ I was under a spell, so without waiting to find out how she knew my name, I jumped into the stream!”
“I looked around for her jewels and all I could see was a large tortoise looking at me. He smiled at me and said, ‘So you have been fooled too.’ I asked him what he meant. ‘Look at me carefully,’ he said, ‘Don’t you recognize me?’ And when I looked at him I saw that his face was like Mr Finn who vanished last year!”
“Mr Finn, the grocer! Turned into a tortoise? How terrible! Mr Finn said, ‘There are no jewels here, Mr Hake. You are her next victim. She casts a spell and turns people into fish, crabs and tortoises! Just look around and you’ll see!’ I saw all kinds of creatures there. I was so scared that I ran all the way to your house!”
After that day, no one walked across the wooden bridge at night. Mr Hake sat in his rocking chair and laughed all by himself. He had got his revenge against all his neighbours who ran away when he told stories!
