Case #7: The Incident of the Infinite Puddle
Filed under: Ongoing Incidents, Water-Related Chaos, Pippa, Things That Were Technically Fine
It started, as most incidents at the Monster Emporium do, with someone saying "this is a very good idea." This time, it was Pippa.
To be fair to Pippa, and we are always fair to Pippa, even when she is standing in three inches of water looking delighted about it, the idea was not entirely without merit. Amorae's spellbook had been sitting on the reading shelf for two weeks. Someone was going to find it eventually. And when Pippa finds something, she read it very carefully. Or rather, in this case, she read the first half of the spell very carefully, but then she got distracted. She did not read the second half.
Timeline of Events
As recorded in Mr. Pennington's field journal, for posterity and also because someone has to.
9:00pm - The puddle appeared. Small. Unremarkable. Pippa regarded it with great satisfaction.
10:00pm - The puddle had grown considerably and, more importantly, had been given a name. Mirium. Pippa felt this was a positive development. Mr. Pennington made his first journal entry of the evening. It simply read: "So."
12:00pm (the following day) - Mirium had expanded into the hallway. This was not entirely surprising to anyone who has spent time around Emporium spellwork. What was slightly surprising was what happened next.
3:00pm - Mirium had a second puddle. Pippa named it Carol.
Mr. Pennington said nothing. He moved his reference photo to higher ground, opened his field journal to a fresh page, and wrote, with the careful handwriting of a monster who has accepted his circumstances: "Puddles: Multiplying. Pippa: delighted." He then made himself a cup of tea and stood on a chair to drink it.
The spell was reversed by Thursday.
This required locating the second half of the page Pippa had not read, which was discovered tucked behind a jar of dried moonberries, which raises a separate question that we are not investigating at this time.
Mirium and Carol are gone. The hallway has been dried. Amorae's spellbook has been moved to a higher shelf.
Pippa said she was sorry. She did not look sorry. She was already grabbing a chair to reach the spellbook on the higher shelf.
The Emporium is fine.
Probably.
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