Toby was a very poor teenager. His family abandoned him a long time ago and he knew foster care was bad, so he lived in the woods on his own. It’s not that he wasn’t okay with living out by himself, it’s all he’s ever known, but he wants to be normal. He learned small words and can kind of speak, but not a large vocabulary. As he was picking berries from bushes and eating them, poisoned or not, he sees a shadow. “Hm?” He says, looking around to see if anyone else was there. No one. 

“Hello. I am the Shadow Man with a quest just for you. Do you wish to be normal?”

“Me? N-normal?” Toby asked, shockingly.

“Yes. Normal. You must find a witch with certain abilities to create potions. The potion will guide you to the pet store where the foster family that you belong with forever will be. From there, they will teach you everything and you will become “normal.” How does that sound?” 

“Y-Yes.” Toby said. Without another word, the Shadow Man cast a spell on Toby, turning him into a slithering snake. 

“Now, you will go find a witch with Saffron, Sumac, Annatto, and Juniper Berries. Then, they will mix it all up, with a spoon and bowl that’s been cast by a navigator spell. That is all you need to know, now go.” The Shadow Man explained, suddenly disappearing.

Toby slithered all throughout the forest until he finally found an abandoned-looking house in the middle of some spooky trees. The Shadow Man had given him the ability to use his voice so once he made it into the house, he was able to voice his request quite easily. 

“Hello, I’m Toby. I’m actually a human. I’m looking for a witch that has Saffron, Sumac, Annatto, and Juniper Berries to make me a navigating spell. I am looking for a pet store where my forever family is.” Toby explained, basically out of breath once he finished. 

“Well, you came to the right witch my dear, come. I started collecting all of these ingredients for the navigator spell when I was deemed too late to find my forever family. I was turned into a witch, and instead of using my powers for normal things, I choose to help people get to their forever homes. I get guests like you, looking for a home, in different shapes and sizes all of the time, this is nothing special.” The witch began grabbing all of the needed ingredients and putting the necessary proportions into the bowl. Next, she cast the navigator spell on the bowl and spoon. “Okay, after this is done setting, I will put it into a big cup you will take. You will feel a pull towards a certain way… follow that said pull and you will reach what you are looking for.” She said as she was mixing everything together. She cast the navigator spell on the cup just to be safe and sent him off, along with the cup. Toby had wrapped his tail around the cup and dragged it across the woods. 

Toby went through the forest again, this time looking for a city until he finally came upon one. He continued to follow the pull until it stopped in front of a building. Once a customer left, he slithered his way inside and into an enclosure. He wasn’t sure of how it all worked, so he took matters into his own hands. After waiting in the enclosure for a few minutes,  two young boys and a mom walk over to Toby.

“Mommy! This one! He’s so cute!!” The little boy said, making Toby smile. The little boy ended up convincing the family to get the snake and take him home. Not even 5 seconds of being in the house, Toby is back to his human self. 

“I found you guys.” He said, smiling.