We’re starting off day six of our 2026 Halloween Flash Fiction event with a whimsical story, set in Maisy Magill‘s Moonshine Hollow world. And after you read all about Pippa’s adventures, be sure to check out the recipe AND contest info!

Hallowmoon at the Fablewick Inn
By Maisy Magill

Hallowmoon in Moonshine Hollow is a night filled with both tricks and treats. From the traveling Hallowmoon Market that mysteriously arrives on All Hallows’ Eve to the elaborately carved pumpkins throughout town, Hallowmoon is unlike any other event. Like many tucked-away villages, Moonshine Hollow offers trick-or-treating, autumnal decorations, raucous haunted pub crawls, and all the good eats. But at the Fablewick Inn, home to the Fablewick witches, it is the most festive night of the year.

The inn itself books out months in advance. Everyone knows it’s the coziest and most whimsical place in all the nine realms to celebrate Hallowmoon. The inn is always decorated with all manner of pumpkins, chrysanthemums, bunting, and garlands. The whole inn is illuminated by candles, every countertop, table, and nook and cranny filled with flickering flames—which the magical inn monitors for safety, of course. The menu at the inn shifts to all things apple, pumpkin, and cinnamon. It is a feast for an autumn lover. But beyond all that, everyone knows that the Fablewick witches have a special kind of magic that they can only share once a year on Hallowmoon…the ability to fly. And not just fly, but fly on broomsticks.

And the temptation of that special adventure is what draws many to Moonshine Hollow’s famed inn.

Zora Fablewick, the matriarch of the family, had cleared the back croquet lawn for the annual flying lessons. Torches lit up the square where an obstacle course made of haybales waited alongside dozens of brooms…and eager guests.

“Everything looks ready,” Zinnia, Zora’s flower witch daughter who helped her mother attend the inn, told Zora. “Zuri is passing out the brooms now,” she added, referring to her other sister.

Zuri smiled as she greeted the inn’s patrons, young and old, selecting just the right broom for each person. Zuri giggled as she helped an elder gnomish man find a broom fitting his stature.

Zora set her hand on Zinnia’s shoulder as she scanned the lawn. “You did very well, Zinnia. Everything looks beautiful. Now, have you seen your other sisters?”

“Zarina is in the kitchen. Something was…smoking. She said she’d join us in a moment.”

Zora laughed. Poor Zarina. She still struggled to tame her wild magic. But one of these days, she would prove the best kitchen witch in Moonshine Hollow.

“There is Zelda,” Zinnia added, gesturing to her sister who was coming with a handful of capes draped on her arm.

“And Zia?” Zora asked, her eyes narrowing.

Zinnia sighed. Zia, their wild bardess sister, was more capricious than a drunken satyr, but she never missed Hallowmoon, no matter what handsome distraction she might have stumbled across at the Hallowmoon Market…or the pub…or the festival…or wherever else Zia might have roamed.

“I see,” Zora said. “Well, I’m sure she’ll find her way.”

“Here we are,” Zelda said, joining her mother and sister, handing capes to each. “I just did a few small repairs and added in a few magical stitches for rain and creasing. Now, we should never have to iron these things again.”

At that, Zora laughed, then helped her daughters put on their Hallowmoon capes.

“Sorry, sorry,” Zarina said, hurrying across the lawn to join the others, her apron smudged with coal. “The flaming tarts had an attitude, but I have them in hand now. Mixie is setting them out for me.”

Zora wiped flour from her daughter’s cheek and held out her cape. “Sometimes all a dish needs is a stern talking-to.”

Zarina laughed. “You’re so right, Mama.”

“Guests are ready,” perpetually barefoot Zuri said, donning her own cape. “Everyone has a broom. Where’s Zia?”

The others groaned.

“Well,” Zora said, “the moon waits for no one, Fablewick witch or no. Shall we?”

“Without Zia?” Zinnia asked.

Zora eyed the moon. The window during which the witches could share their power was brief, and while she hated the idea of starting without her missing daughter, she really had no choice.

“She’ll be here,” Zora said with more confidence than she felt. Fastening her cape, she gave her daughters an affirmative nod, then stepped forward to greet the crowd of several dozen guests.

“Happy Hallowmoon,” Zora called.

“Happy Hallowmoon,” everyone called in reply.

“As you know, it is part of our tradition here at The Fablewick Inn to lend just a little magic to our guests once a year when the moon,” she said, looking up, “is in just the right position. And we are nearly there.” Zora then stepped on her broom and kicked up, hovering off the ground.

The crowd “oohed” and “ahhed” at the sight.

“Tonight, you will enjoy a calm magical broom ride through the haybale maze. One at a time, we will ride through the little obstacle course from one end to the other. You must go nice and calm and steady. If you are nervous or overly excited or overly anything, your broom will respond in kind. My daughters will now show you how to properly mount and guide your brooms.” Zora turned to Zuri and Zinnia, who stepped forward.

The witches demonstrated how to swing a leg over the broom, settle in, and hold the handle with a light grip.

“Gentle hands,” Zinnia told the crowd. “Think of it like holding a fragile teacup. If you squeeze too hard…disaster. Hold on tight enough to stay steady, but not too firmly.”

“And lean the way you want to go,” Zuri added, tipping her broom so it drifted lazily to the left. “Not too much. Brooms are very eager to please and will follow your lead. So, let’s lead them safely.”

One by one, the guests mounted their brooms. With many laughs and awkward starts, they took their turns, the Fablewick witches helping them make their way. A pair of newlyweds from the Appleshire went first, gliding through the haybale maze side by side and laughing the whole way. The gnomish gentleman followed, his feet dangling a good foot above the grass, his beard tucked into his waistcoat so it wouldn’t catch the wind. He made it through with only one small bump against a bale and received a hearty round of applause at the far end.

Zora watched it all with quiet satisfaction. Everything was going just as it should.

Then it was little Pippa Hearthfire’s turn.

The girl couldn’t have been more than seven, with two dark braids and a witch’s hat several sizes too big. Her mother hovered nearby, eyeing her daughter nervously as Zuri helped Pippa onto her broom. “It’s fun, but go easy,” Zuri told the excited child. For all her enthusiasm, Pippa climbed onto her broom with great seriousness and held the handle exactly as instructed.

“Very good,” Zuri told her, floating alongside. “Nice and steady.”

Pippa rose a few feet off the ground and began her slow, careful way through the maze. She had made it nearly halfway when a brightly glowing full moon balloon came bobbing over the hedge from the direction of the Hallowmoon Market, its ribbon trailing behind it. The enchanted balloon shone with startlingly bright moonlight. The spell only lasted a day, but if you ever wanted the moon on a string, this was your only chance.

“Look! A Hallowmoon balloon,” Pippa squealed.

The broom, which really was sensitive to its rider’s wants and needs, felt Pippa’s excitement.

Zuri lunged for the broom’s tail but missed. Too late.

In a heartbeat, it shot straight up and out of the maze, Pippa clinging on with both hands as they chased the balloon over the croquet lawn and toward the inn’s tall chimneys. Her hat went tumbling to the grass.

Pippa’s mother screamed, but Pippa laughed wildly, excited to be on an adventure.

“Pippa!” Zelda called, kicking off to go after her.

“Stay calm, Pippa,” Zarina added, turning from the catering table and hurrying to go after the child who was giggling wildly as the balloon and the broom engaged in a dangerous game of hide-and-seek amongst the inn’s gables.

“Hold on, Pippa! I’m coming,” Zora called. She was on her way to intercept the child when a streak of purple light came sailing over the rooftop from the opposite direction. Wild raven-colored curls flew loose in the wind and magic sparked from the back of the broom as the newcomer swooped toward Pippa.

Zia.

Her accordion on her back, Zia swooped low, caught the balloon’s ribbon in one hand, and with the other, reached out and grabbed Pippa’s broom, steadying it.

“And just where do you think you’re off to?” Zia asked Pippa.

“I was trying to catch the balloon!” Pippa said with a laugh.

“Well, here you are,” Zia said, tying the balloon to the handle of Pippa’s broom while she balanced easily on her own ride. “Happy?”

Pippa laughed with excitement. “Yes!”

“There’s nothing better than a Hallowmoon balloon…except a Hallowmoon broom ride. Now, shall we fly down together? Calmly?”

Pippa nodded.

“Good, follow me,” Zia said, giving her sisters a reassuring look as she led Pippa safely to the ground where the pair was met with cheers—and one very relieved mother.

Zora landed beside her bardess daughter. “That was quite an entrance. We were wondering if you were coming.”

“Me?” Zia asked, mock offended. “I’d never miss Hallowmoon broom riding.”

“Late, though.”

“He was sooooo very, very handsome. You should be proud of me.”

At that, Zora merely chuckled and shook her head. “Zia.”

The rest of the lessons went off without trouble, though Zia flew alongside each of the youngest riders just in case. By the time the last guest had made it through the maze, the moon had begun to slip from its golden perch. The guests’ brooms started to sputter. One by one, they sank gently onto the grass, and the guests climbed off with wobbly legs and pink cheeks.

“And that,” Zora announced, “is the end of our shared Hallowmoon magic for another year. Thank you all for flying with us. Now, I believe there are punch and treats!”

Spiced apple punch and Zarina’s flaming tarts were set out on long wooden boards along the edge of the lawn. Each tart glowed with a tiny blue flame that danced harmlessly over the sugared apple filling.

“Your tarts are behaving,” Zelda said, nudging her sister.

Zarina blew a stray curl from her face. “For now.”

Guests gathered in little clusters, sipping punch and swapping stories of their flights. The gnomish gentleman was telling anyone who would listen that he had reached a height of nearly twelve feet—which no one really believed, but everyone was eager to act astonished all the same. Pippa sat on a hay bale with her balloon bobbing above her, her relieved mother happily plying her daughter with punch, treats, and gentle warnings about flying a broom while excited.

Zora stood a little apart, cup in hand, and looked over at her daughters. Another Hallowmoon, another bit of magic shared. Her patrons were happy, and her family was together. She lifted her cup toward the fading moon and smiled.

Another perfect Hallowmoon at the Fablewick Inn.

***

Want to bring a little Fablewick magic to your own Hallowmoon table? Zarina’s flaming tarts may be a bit temperamental, but these witch brooms are easy to make.

Recipe: Sweet and Savory Witch Broom Tray

Ingredients

For the savory brooms:
4 string cheese sticks
12 thin pretzel sticks
12 fresh chives

For the sweet brooms:
12 mini peanut butter cups, unwrapped
12 thin pretzel sticks
Orange or green frosting in a piping bag or zip-top bag with the corner snipped (optional)

Instructions

1. Set the unwrapped peanut butter cups on the counter while you make the cheese brooms. A few minutes at room temperature softens them so the pretzels go in without cracking the chocolate.
2. Cut each string cheese stick into thirds, giving you 12 pieces.
3. Starting at one end of each cheese piece, make several cuts about halfway up. Gently pull the strands apart so they fan out like bristles.
4. Push a pretzel stick into the uncut end of each cheese piece.
5. Wrap a chive around the top of the bristles and tie it in a knot. Trim any long ends. If the chives are stiff and snapping, dip them in warm water for a few seconds to soften.
6. For the sweet brooms, set each peanut butter cup flat side down and press a pretzel stick into the center of the top. If any feel loose, add a small dab of melted chocolate where the stick meets the cup.
7. If using frosting, pipe a thin band around the base of each pretzel stick where it meets the cup to look like the broom’s binding.

The sweet brooms can be made a day ahead and stored in an airtight container at room temperature. Make the cheese brooms no more than a few hours before serving and keep them covered in the refrigerator so the chives stay fresh and the cheese doesn’t melt or dry out.