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"OOoooOoOo," cooed the voice. "It's a frog!" The owl introduced itself as Cedric.

Hilda picked up Harold and ran away, yelling "Run away! Run away!!!"

"Wait!" cooed Cedric, "don't goooo! My employer is a wizard, and he can magically fix your shoes, plus turn him back into a human."

Cedric watched in dismay as the human woman carrying a frog disappeared over the horizon.

A moment later, Hilda paused as she hid behind a tree. "Phew, I think that owl was going to eat you," she wheezed.

"I heard it -CROAK- saying something -CROAK- as we were running away," Harold tried to say.

"Now we're off the path that would have taken us to the mysterious cobbler," Hilda noticed, uncertain which way the path was from here.

They had entered a dark, forboding forest. This must be the grim forest the man back in the village had mentioned. Suddenly, Hilda saw a gleaming golden bottle nestled beneath a tree. It looked like a genie's bottle.

Hilda picked up the bottle and uncorked it. Out flowed a smoky being who turned out to be a genie! (Surprise). He said "Pheeeeeeewwwww! I am glad to be out of there - even though it was a sporty, comfortable model with plenty of leg and head-room."

The genie looked at Hilda for the first time. "Well, HELLO there! Saaaay, you look sort of familiar!"

Hilda stamped her foot indignantly. "I'm not familiar! I'm just an acquaintance."

"Oooooooh," cooed Cedric, flying into view. "Crispin will be far better at helping you than a mere genie!"

"Bah!" scoffed the genie. "No mere wizard can match my power. Now then, you have three wishes."

Harold croaked, "I -CROAK- wish I wasn't a frog!"

"Hush," the genie barked, "you didn't rub the lamp! You don't get a wish!"

The genie looked at the woman, waiting...

"Well - CROAK - what are you waiting for?" Urged Harold. "Turn me back and fix our shoes!"

"Let's not be hasty, Harold!" said Hilda. "I'm not wasting my wishes on just anything!"

"Hasty!? I'm a - CROAK - frog! You have to - CROAK - change me back!" Harold said.

"Hush! Let me think how we can get the most out of this. I know! I wish for unlimited wishes!" Hilda declared.

Baba Yaga dropped out of the tree, yelling "Mwa ha ha ha haaaa..." before she started coughing and choking.

When she recovered, she eyed Harold covetously. "Aha! 'Tis a mortal turned into a frog! Just what I need for my supper - Frog Leg Fricassee!"

"Excuse me," the genie replied. "We're in the middle of something here."

Baba Yaga paused, caught off guard. She'd never been addressed so casually.

The genie turns back to Hilda and says "Ooh!" *zap* "Sorry - wishing for unlimited wishes is cheating! We genies know that trick, too!"

Hilda's nose now sports an enormous boil!

Baba Yaga jumps up and down. "No fair! I wish I had an enormous boil on my nose! It goes so well with the witch thing I have going!"

"Noooo! My beautiful nose!" Hilda screamed. "Fine. For my first wish I want you to remove the boil from my nose."

"Wait. What about me? I'm still a -CROAK- frog!" Harold exclaimed.

"I wish you'd be quiet," she said to Harold.

"Granted!" shouted the genie, and suddenly Harold couldn't speak.

"That's not what I meant!" protested Hilda. "I was talking to my husband not you!"

"Two more wishes," the genie said with a smile.