Royal Order of Elves that if they didn’t send her an elf she would turn the entire kingdom into a mud puddle and all the  elves into soggy toadstools. Now the Council felt that together they had enough magic to prevent her from doing this but they weren’t absolutely sure. So they decided to send Charlie to visit her. Now Charlie was not the brightest Elf. He was not very smart at all. No, they picked Charlie because he was the elf they could most easily get along without. He was to be  a scapegoat or scapeelf if you will. It was better for Charlie to die than to have the whole country turned into a mud puddle.

Now , of course, that is not what they told Charlie. Oh !  No they didn’t tell him that at all. They told him they picked him because he was the bravest elf of all and the very best elf to represent them. And Charlie believed them. Hey! I told you he wasn’t very bright.

So Charlie entered the deep dark woods and walked to the witch’s house, a smarter elf would have gotten there by magic and thus been there much quicker. On the other hand , perhaps, Charlie wasn’t so dumb.

When Charlie entered the dark cottage the Witch was ready with her request. “ I want to be beautiful” she said.” Grant me a wish”. Now Charlie thought for a moment and then he said “ I’m sorry that just isn’t possible. It would be against the basic elf rule.  All wishes are granted as a reward for an act of kindness. At no time is a wish to be granted without the necessary act.”

The Witch became very angry and lightning bolts crashed to the floor in  front of Charlie. But Charlie was not moved. He may not have been very smart but he knew the rules, all twelve of  them and he lived by them. She could blow a hole through him and he would not waver. 

“ I have checked your entire life as recorded in the eternal data bank and never have you ever committed one act of kindness, not one.” he said. Now a smarter elf might have decided that the sheer fact that she hadn’t blown a hole in him or turned him into a frog could be considered an act of kindness. But Charlie was not smart enough for such rule bending. It was simple matter, she had never been kind so she gets no wish.

After firing more  lightning bolts and threatening him with every curse she could think of  she realized he was not going to change his mind. So she sat down and thought. To become beautiful she